“You’re not limited to anything, unless you limit yourself.”

Hope Bevilhymer is many things, a helper, a motivational speaker, an amputee, a gold medal winner, and a local. Born and raised in West Jordan, Bevilhymer currently calls Las Vegas, Nevada home – but it isn’t because of the hot weather. It’s actually for the opposite – the ice!

If Las Vegas is Bevilhymer’s first home, the ice rink is a close second.

“I was born with the bilateral club feet, so I didn’t participate in a lot of sports growing up,” explained Bevilhymer. “Sled hockey was starting at recreation through Salt Lake County. I went and tried it and fell in love with it and here I am.”

Getting a start in county-run recreational sports has led her all the way to a gold medal in the Women’s Para Ice Hockey World Cup… three times.

One of her biggest supporters is her mom, Jamie Bevilhymer.

“She really is amazing,” said Jamie Bevilhymer. “Her first surgery was when she was three months old. She had 29 surgeries before having her leg amputated.”

After she had her last surgery – Hope Bevilhymer noticed a common theme.

“It was a weird thing, but people started offering me their prosthetic legs.”

These questions and offerings of prosthetics, along with a documentary on third-world amputees, sparked an idea for Hope. That’s where civic resources come in again. Bevilhymer went to a local library and registered her non-profit, Limbs of Hope.

She traveled to Cambodia and Romania, where she spent time delivering used prosthetics to victims of war crimes. After all that traveling and giving back, Bevilhymer decided to give her non-profit a nap and take on sled hockey full time.

“One of my hockey coaches told me once, and it’s really stuck with me…” said Bevilhymer. “Play with purpose, play with passion, and always have fun. If you aren’t having fun than it’s not what you should be doing.”

And fun she is having, but who wouldn’t have fun taking home gold??