Kanya Sesser was born with no legs. But that doesn't deter her from being many things, from an exceptional skateboarder, surfer, monoskier and basketball player to a model for lingerie, sportswear and streetwear products.
At only one week old, Kanya was abandoned on the front steps of a Buddhist temple in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima province. For the first four years of her life, she was raised by caring monks and hospital staff. Seeing potential from her energy and capabilities, the hospital refused to send her to an orphanage. Instead, they sent her to the Holt Sahathai Foundation, which found her a loving foster family in Ayutthaya.
After Kanya's fifth birthday, American couple Jane and Dave Sesser found her in an international adoption magazine. They flew in and took her back to her new home in Portland, Oregon, where they provided her with unconditional love and care in the years to come.
For her 26th birthday, Kanya returned to her birth country to celebrate with her boyfriend. She was recently in Thailand to speak at the "No Legs No Limits" seminar organised by the Holt Sahathai Foundation, which aims to inspire and motivate people by her struggles and life hardship.
With her tan skin and a bright smile, Kanya radiated a light of enthusiasm before her talk. Pushed onstage in a wheelchair, she accepted the help but immediately took the wheel and put herself in charge.
Kanya blends in with the atmosphere of her regular skate park in Venice Beach -- a Thai complexion with a Californian accent, tattoos spiralling from her shoulder, across her chest and sprawling down her left arm. She skates just like others, too -- she has no legs, so she uses her arms.
Kanya does not consider herself disabled. If anything, she is more able than others.
"I was really stubborn," she said with a chuckle. "It's just how I am."
Ever since she was young, she'd hop around from place to place with the arms she had.
"In Thailand, there aren't a lot of sidewalks that are accessible," she said, "but again, I never let anything stop me."
Also born with webbed fingers and an extra finger, she had undergone a surgery at the age of season to ease her mobility.
"I never look at people and think, 'How come they have something that I don't?', because I don't care," Kanya said.
By the time she turned nine, surrounded by friends from her neighbourhood, she began skateboarding. Although she almost got hit by a car, clearly that didn't stop her.
It didn't stop her from driving either, with the use of hand controls. It also didn't stop her from almost qualifying in monoskiing for the 2018 Winter Paralympics in South Korea, from scoring modelling gigs with big brands like Billabong and Nike, or earning a stunt role in well-known TV series like The Walking Dead and Hawaii Five-0.
That isn't to say there are never days she feels down.
"Sometimes I don't try my hardest, and I'm not ashamed to say that," she said. "It's okay to not be 100."
But that's also not to say she'd let herself down either.
"Do more," she said. "If you feel like 100, do 120. Do extra."
Asked what she hasn't been able to do without legs so far, Kanya paused a long while to think before responding with a list of things she has yet to achieve. She still wants to skydive, star in bigger movies and travel more to meet people with disabilities and show them accessible equipment.
Kanya wasn't always so outgoing. Jintana Nonta- paoraya, managing director of Holt Sahathai Foundation, remembered her as a shy girl sitting alone by the swings.
With no knowledge of English, transitioning from Thailand to Portland was difficult for young Kanya. Her mother recalled a day where she mumbled in Thai to a reflection of herself and her doll, knowing those were the only two who understood her.
However, soon enough she began making friends in elementary school and became popular among many groups in her high school. "People were more curious of me and wanted to understand me," Kanya said.
Decades passed, and she's become the definition of confidence.
"In a place like Los Angeles where everyone keeps to themselves, she's just a genuinely outgoing personality with such a kind soul," said Rob, her boyfriend. "It's very hard to put into words how she is in comparison to other people I've met because I've never met anyone like her."
Several voices from the foundation and hospital questioned who Kanya would have become, had she been raised in an orphanage. They questioned what she'd accomplish, had she been brought up in Thailand. They doubted it would have landed her where she is today.
Not everywhere, not in Bangkok or Thailand, can you find places with accessible infrastructure and inclusive activities that enable people like Kanya. Not everywhere can you find communities with people that not only accept and support, but encourage and empower them to do what seems impossible.
"It's good that I lived in America, because I wouldn't be the person I am today if I stayed in Thailand," Kanya said. "You can get more help, connections and opportunities [in the US]."
Kanya and her family have been able to raise money for additional accommodation for disabled people in Portland, such as an accessible playground and traffic lights, with the help of the Thai community and groups for people with disabilities in the city.
