Dr. Kaye, Marty’s neurologist, called it a “freak” accident because the chance of it happening to a 10-year-old girl was almost nil. “The fact is, ” Dr. Kaye droned, “spinal cord injuries occur most often among men ages 18–24. Paraplegia is generally the result of motor vehicle accidents. Medical science is still in search of a cure,”she had noted with authority.
马蒂的神经科医生凯博士称之为“畸形”事故，因为发生在一个10岁女孩身上的几率几乎为零。“事实是，”Kaye博士说，“脊髓损伤最常发生在18—24岁的男性中。截瘫通常是机动车事故的结果。医学科学仍在寻找治愈的方法，”她权威地指出。
Marty had heard those words five years ago. At the time Dr. Kaye had given her the bad news, about not walking again, Marty was not listening. She was thinking about the freak accident.
马蒂五年前就听说过这句话。当凯医生告诉她不能再走路的坏消息时，马蒂根本没在听。她在想那个离奇的事故。
The last words Marty remembered saying were, “Eleanor, get room, something is wrong. “The next thing she remembered was lying in bed in the Children’s Hospital. The surgical ward was active and fun. Respiratory therapists came every day to Marty’s bedside. They taught her to blow the harmonica so that she could strengthen her lungs.
马蒂记得的最后一句话是：“埃莉诺，让一让，出事了。”她记得的下一件事就是躺在儿童医院的床上。外科病房很活跃，也很有趣。每天都有呼吸治疗师来到马蒂的床边。他们教她吹口琴，这样她就能加强她的肺功能。
It all happened on a Thanksgiving Day, when she was just 8 years old. Marty and her older sister, Eleanor, had gone to their backyard to pick apples for their mom. When Marty reached the top of the ladder, the rotten wood gave way. She tumbled noiselessly to the ground. There hadn’t been pain.
这一切都发生在一个感恩节，当时她只有8岁。马蒂和她的姐姐埃莉诺去后院为妈妈摘苹果。马蒂爬到梯子顶上时，朽木倒塌了。她一声不响地跌到地上。没有痛苦。
But then, she noticed her legs didn’t move.
但是后来，她注意到她的腿并没有动。
They said things like, “why not get an electric wheelchair, dear”, to which Marty always wantted to say, “what’s wrong with wheeling my own chair?” And they always tried to push her chair, even when she didn’t need help. Couldn’t they see she managed just fine? 他们说,”为什么不买一个电动轮椅,亲爱的”,对此马蒂总是想说,”推我自己的椅子
有什么错？”他们总是试图推她的椅子，即使她不需要帮助。难道他们看不出来她过得很好吗？
Occupational therapists taught her to make birdhouses and belts. Her favorite therapist, Laura, was a physical therapist. She taught Marry to use a wheelchair and to wheel down steps.
职业治疗师教她做鸟舍和皮带。她最喜欢的治疗师Laura是物理治疗师。她教玛丽使用轮椅和推着轮椅下楼梯。
Marty played chess, swam, went to school, and even rode horse. She was the same girl she always was; it was the people who had changed.
马蒂下棋，游泳，上学，甚至骑马。她还是原来的她，是那些改变了她的人。
After just 3 months, Marry had gone home. Her mom had the house refitted, and a ramp had replaced the front steps.
仅仅3个月后，玛丽就回家了。她妈妈重新装修了房子，用一个斜坡代替了前面的台阶。
Then there were the other questions like. “what happened to your legs”, to which Marty usually answered, “I thought I still had them, aren’t they still there?” Then adults would ask her,”how do you go to the bathroom?” And Marty would reply, “I wheel there.”The one question Marty relished was, “how do you sleep?” Without missing a beat, Marty would shoot back,”like a baby, just fine, thanks.”
然后还有其他问题，比如。“你的腿怎么了？”马蒂通常这样回答，“我以为我的腿还在，不是还在吗？”然后大人们会问她，“你怎么上厕所？”马蒂会回答说：“我推车过去。”马蒂喜欢的一个问题是，“你怎么睡觉？”马蒂会毫不犹豫地还击，“就像个婴儿，很好，谢谢。”
“Mom, I don’t want to ask a lot of questions to people who walk, why do they all ask me questions?”
“妈妈，我不想问走路的人太多问题，为什么他们都问我问题？”
“People are just curious, Marty”, her mother would explain. “It wouldn’t hurt to be nice and give a real explanation.”
“人们只是好奇罢了，马蒂，”她母亲解释道。“友好一点，给出一个真正的解释，也无伤大雅。”
“Just try to be nice Marty, after all you are a role model for others in wheelchairs,” was her mom’s usual reply.
“试着做个好人吧，马蒂，毕竟你是其他坐轮椅的人的榜样。”这是她妈妈通常的回答。
“I just want to roll my wheelchair in peace, I don’t want to be a role model.” Marty would shoot back.
“我只想安静地滚动我的轮椅，我不想成为榜样。”马蒂会反击。
At first she would answer seriously, “I have a spinal cord injury”, and patiently explain, “I use a sliding board to get into bed, then I lie down.” But after 5 years, she was tired of the questions. So she just made up answers.
起初，她会严肃地回答：“我有一个嵴髓损伤。”然后耐心地解释：“我用滑板上床，然后躺下。”但是5年过去了，她已经厌倦了这些问题。所以她只是编造了答案。
Even though she resented the questions, Marty did want people to comprehend what life was like in a wheelchair. She didn’t want pity; she just wanted people to feel comfortable around her. She hated feeling like some alien in a metal spaceship who was visiting from another planet.
尽管她讨厌这些问题，但马蒂确实希望人们能够理解坐在轮椅上的生活是什么样的。她不需要怜悯，她只想让人们在她身边感到舒适。她讨厌感觉自己像是来自另一个星球的金属宇宙飞船里的外星人。
“Well, I’ve tried to explain, and that gets nowhere”, Marty grumbled to her best friend, Sasha, who had a sister also in a wheelchair. “People still look at me like I’m sick or weird.”
“好吧，我已经试着解释过了，但是没有用，”马蒂对她最好的朋友萨沙抱怨道，她的妹妹也坐在轮椅上。“人们仍然看着我，好像我病了或者很奇怪。”
Sasha thought for a minute about what her friend had said. She had a sudden inspiration.”Hey, I know, why not make a video about what it’s like to be in a wheelchair? I have a video camera, and we could write a script, you and me. What do you say?” Sasha enthused.
萨莎想了一会儿她朋友说的话。她突然有了灵感。“嘿，我知道，为什么不拍一个关于坐在轮椅上是什么感觉的视频呢？我有一台摄像机，我们可以写一个剧本，你和我。你怎么说？”萨沙热情地。
Marty adopted Sasha’s proposal,”Sasha, you are a genius. We could make a video about your sister and me, and give it to the public library. They could show it to people so they could see what people in wheelchairs can do.”
马蒂采纳了萨沙的建议：“萨沙，你是个天才。我们可以做一个关于你姐姐和我的视频，然后捐给公共图书馆。他们可以向人们展示它，这样他们就可以看到坐轮椅的人能做什么。”
By the next weekend, the girls had finished their script. Dr. Laura had even drawn a diagram of the spinal cord. It showed how messages went from the brain down the nerves along the spinal cord. The messages ended where Marty’s spinal cord was broken. That was why when her brain told her legs to move, they couldn’t. That message never got to the legs. It got as far as the break in her spine.
到了第二个周末，女孩们完成了她们的剧本。劳拉医生甚至画了一张脊髓的图表。它展示了信息是如何沿着脊髓从大脑传递到神经的。信息的结尾是马蒂的脊髓断裂。这就是为什么当她的大脑告诉她的腿要动时，它们却动不了。这个信息从来没有传到腿上。她的脊椎骨折了。
The video also showed how Marty could get into cars, and into her bed. There was even a part where Marty got on her horse, and took her dog for a walk, and weeded her vegetable garden, and fixed a lamp bracket for the family. The girls decided to leave out the stuff that showed how she went to the bathroom.
视频还展示了马蒂如何上车，上床。甚至有一段时间，马蒂骑上她的马，带着她的狗散步，在她的菜园里除草，还给家里修了一个灯架。女孩们决定省略那些显示她如何上厕所的东西。
Marty and Sasha went to the Children’s Hospital’s ward and filmed the children who were undergoing treatment. They wanted others to see what it was like to lift weights and play cricket, and learn to dress yourself.
马蒂和萨沙前往儿童医院的病房，拍摄正在接受治疗的儿童。他们想让别人看看举重和板球是什么样子的，还想学着自己穿衣服。
The preview was held in the community center events room. All of Marty and Sasha’s classmates, their parents, the teachers, and the school principal came. The kids from the children’s ward and the doctors and therapists came, too.
预演在社区活动中心的活动室举行。马蒂和萨沙的所有同学，他们的父母，老师和校长都来了。儿童病房的孩子们、医生和治疗师也来了。
Marty had a lot of fun acting as Master of Ceremonies. She even had an auction of artwork done by the children in the spinal cord ward. In all the proceeds was $1000 that she donated to the spinal cord research.
马蒂扮演MC很有趣。她甚至在脊髓病房为孩子们举办了艺术品拍卖会。所有的收益中有1000美元是她捐给脊髓研究的。
That night, Marty thought about the “freak” accident. She thought how being in a wheelchair made her different, but it also had forced her to make her life special. She had been elected to represent other disabled people and educate them about disabled people. The freak accident had given her the chance to change the world. It had also made her into a pretty good film maker.
那天晚上，马蒂想到了那个“怪异”的事故。她认为坐在轮椅上是如何使她与众不同的，但这也迫使她使自己的生活与众不同。她当选为其他残疾人的代表，并向他们介绍残疾人的情况。这次离奇的事故给了她改变世界的机会。这也使她成为一个相当不错的电影制作人。
The apple tree is in bloom again. Sometimes Marty wheels to her backyard and looks up. She does not feel sad; she just tries to figure out how she can pick apples from the highest branch. If anyone can climb up that tree, it’s Marty.
苹果树又开花了。有时马蒂会飞到她家后院，抬头看看。她并不感到难过，她只是试图弄明白如何从最高的树枝上摘苹果。如果有人能爬上那棵树，那一定是马蒂。
Her video won the children’s video award, and she got another $1000 which she donated the children’s ward.
她的视频赢得了儿童视频奖，她又得到了1000美元，捐给了儿童病房。
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