Cameron Clapp stood before a full-house audience at the conference center in the Kasych Family Pavilion at Lehigh Valley Hospital – Cedar Crest campus, March 14, gushing with enthusiasm, encouragement and a "you can do anything you put your mind to" spirit.

Clapp was not just a motivational speaker, he stood there as a triple amputee, with prosthetics for each of his severed legs and his right arm. He lost his limbs at the age of 15, two days after the 9/11 attack on the USA, when his own self-described "poor decisions" left him passed-out drunk lying on train tracks near his California home. A passing train took both his legs and his arm.

His audience included countless adults and youth throughout the auditorium who sat with their own prosthetics, their own original limbs lost to accident or medical conditions. The program was sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Amputee Support Group.

Clapp today competes in sports and is an advocate for amputees as he travels around the world on behalf of Hanger Orthopedic Group, of Austin, Texas.

Clapp related a recent adventure where he traveled to New Zealand to visit with a multiple-amputee young woman, named Charlotte, who he had befriended and has been mentoring for many years. The woman had arranged for Clapp to engage in a skydiving adventure tethered to an expert skydiving instructor. He described the jump as "one of the greatest adventures of my life."

Clapp presented his audience with a photo slide show of his participation in track and field para-athletic events, competing against other athletes running on advanced prosthetic "blade" legs. He also showed slides and videos where he participated in swimming events, golf and surfing competitions.

Clapp's message was one of encouragement for his fellow amputees.

"When I first woke up in the hospital and realized my legs and right arm were missing, all I had were feelings of hopelessness," Clapp said.

His first goal was mobility. Now he walks, runs, drives a vehicle and participates in a number of sports and outdoor activities. Clapp was visibly moved when he related the death of his twin brother who also "made poor decisions" and lost his life to a drug overdose.

Clapp said he now travels the world with his message of hope to "help make my brother's life a legacy."

Clapp showed slides of himself with his girlfriend and concluded with the thought, "All you really have to do in life is be yourself, and stick with people who love you. We all deserve love – both giving it and receiving it."

To learn more of Cameron's inspiring story, visit his website at www.cameronclapp.com/home.asp.