Who Say's I Can't

Two words have the power to change a person's outlook: good . . . considering. Jothy Rosenberg has heard this nearly his whole life, starting at age sixteen when bone cancer led to an above-knee amputation of his right leg. Three years later, when cancer forced the removal of a lung and acted like a death sentence, this epithet continued. Rosenberg grew tired of only being "good considering" his disability. In the decades since he beat cancer, he has used athletics to overcome this social stigma. He turned his disability into a superability, often performing in challenging open water swims, cancer-fundraising bike rides, and treacherous skiing adventures better than "two-leggers." And in the business world, when working in a reliable position failed to quench his need for risk-taking, he plunged into entrepreneurship, launching several high-tech startup companies. In Who Says I Can't, Rosenberg teaches by example how everyone can overcome life's obstacles to achieve and overachieve. Through his stories, he shows that when the world says you can't, courage and determination prove you can be more than "good considering." You can be better than the rest. Not only that, you can use a positive attitude to inspire and stomp out stereotypes one leg at a time.ENDORSEMENTS"The PMC coined the term Living Proof some 15 years ago. Nobody epitomizes that phrase, or our mission, better than Jothy Rosenberg. The challenges he has faced in his life have been hurdles, not walls, to leading a fulfilling life. In a world overflowing with hype and artifice, Jothy's journey and triumph is real and inspirational. He is a true role model."-- Billy Starr, Founder/Executive Director, Pan-Mass ChallengeJothy Rosenberg is not a celebrity but an Everyman, which gives his wrenching story of astonishing grit its inspirational power. After being told when he was 19 that he had no chance of surviving the cancer that had already cost him one leg and one lung, Jothy made a decision. He would ski until he died. Instead, he became one of the first beneficiaries of then-primitive chemotherapy, a champion one-legged, one-lunged skier, swimmer, and cyclist, and an early model of how to triumph over cancer and disability. For anyone trying to turn a cancer diagnosis, major disability, or even a major life challenge into a character-building experience, this well-written book is indispensable.-- Jonathan Alter, author, MSNBC commentator, cancer survivor