after surgery i. didn t have a wheelchair. my legs we atrophied behind my back and i walked on my hands all the time. reporter: six years later a transv chance visit by an american to the orphanage changed her life. i immediately knew she was my mon. reporter: adoption gave tatiana an instant family. her mom pushed her to get involved in sports. getting involved in sports saved my life. i wrote down goals and said i really want to be a paraathlete. reporter: the youngest member of the athens pair liralympic g and in london finally won gold. in 2013, mcfadden won the grand slam title for marathon wheelchair racing and traded it for a sit ski. now she s back in russia where she s competing in the sochi paralympic cross-country nordic skiing event. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting.
field team at the athens paralympic game. she won four more medals in beijing and in london she won gold. in 2013, mcfadden won the grand slam title for marathon wheelchair racing, then traded her wheelchair for a sit city. now she s back in russia where she s competing in the paralympic nordic cross skiing event. dr. sanjay gupta, reporting. there s this kid.