A man born without legs and with only one arm after the Chernobyl disaster talks about his exercise habits, including exercising on a treadmill for up to 30 hours. His 25-year-old Tim Mason, who now lives in Connecticut, USA, was born in Moscow, the capital of Russia.
However, his birth mother was exposed to radiation after the infamous Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union in 1986.
After the operators lost control of one of the reactors, the explosion killed two people at the site and 28 people in the weeks after the disaster.
The International Atomic Energy Association estimates that around 150,000 square kilometers of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine have been contaminated by radiation.
As a result of the radiation, Mr. Mason was born without legs and with only one arm.
But now, Mason has explained how he works out, revealing he lost 40 pounds in the last year.
He said he uses the treadmill for 10 to 30 minutes per session, adding, “I do my own version of weightlifting and crunches.”
He talked about the misconception that “disabled people can’t exercise, but we can all.”
He continues:
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At just three years old, Mr. Mason was adopted by Virginia Mason, who spent his early years in an orphanage before being brought to the United States.
Mr Mason remembers his adoptive mother traveling to see him, recalling:
“She was very happy to find me.”
His progress “skyrocketed” when he began his education in the United States.
Mason continued: “I was very active and was always playing on the playground.”
He explained that he took off his prosthetic after realizing that he “didn’t like it very much.”
He added, “They weren’t me.
“I wanted to be myself without them.”
