Courtesy of Quinn Bossow

Bossow celebrates winning a point against an opponent at Palo Alto HS.

Sophomore Quinn Bossow was two weeks old when doctors diagnosed him with a form of pediatric cancer called Infantile Fibrosarcoma, resulting in the amputation of his left leg.

While the disability has made sports more challenging for him, it has never deterred him from trying and succeeding in everything from skiing to wrestling to water polo.

As a child Bossow learned to navigate life with a prosthetic — and adapting to it wasn’t always easy. For one thing, it prevented him from taking up walking as quickly as he otherwise would have; he resorted to crawling a lot and had to undergo physical therapy for a few years to get used to his condition.

Still, he entered school thinking of himself as little different from other children.

“I never really noticed a difference between me and other people until the end of middle school. Initially, I felt annoyed and I was like ‘Why me?’, but now I realize I’m lucky to even be alive,” Bossow said. 

As he adapted more to his condition, he began to participate in family traditions such as skiing. 

The first time he tried the sport, he remembers spending more time in the snow than on his feet. As his family whizzed down the mountain, he inched forward. His prosthetic, difficult to maneuver on the slopes, stayed behind in the lodge. By the end of the day, frustration had bitten harder than the cold did. 

Bossow spent about two years on green slopes — the easiest level — before attempting the next level, blue runs. Bossow also endured the extra-strenuous efforts required in having to balance on one leg while heading downhill. 

On top of that, the discouraging reality of being the slowest skier in the family bothered him. Eventually, things would change as a result of meeting the right mentor, a ski instructor who was also a leg amputee.

In learning from this instructor, Bossow gradually opened up to the sport. Having a coach who truly understood how to correct the balance challenges, falls and constant frustration he was going through changed everything. 

This past year, he was able to ski down multiple double black runs, one of the hardest difficulties in skiing, known to include expert-level obstacles including boulders, large moguls and dense trees.

Makes waves in the water and defeating opponents on the mat

Bossow has also participated in school sports — water polo in the fall of his freshman year and wrestling in the winter of both freshman and sophomore year. 

Of the two, water polo was especially challenging. For every practice, match and conditioning session, Bossow would remove his prosthetic leg, requiring double the effort for mobility in swimming. Water polo, a contact-intensive sport, was also a testament to Bossow’s physicality.

Years later, he sees his prosthetic not as a limitation, but as proof of his resilience. Without anyone dictating his limits, he’s found ways to compete well against others even when he’s at a disadvantage.

 His mental strength has allowed him to surpass obstacles and let him perform his best.

“For me, I realized that for sports like water polo and others that include running, or things that include my leg, it doesn’t really matter how fast I go,” he said. “All that matters is how I actually end up performing on the field.”

After experimenting in several sports and activities, Bossow found his true passion in wrestling. When he first discovered the sport in 8th grade, it was at first a disheartening experience. Bossow admits he didn’t initially have a strong interest in wrestling, but, just as how a mentor supported him in skiing, his older sister, senior Rebecca Bossow — now studying in Germany while living with a host family — stepped in to encourage and guide him in wrestling, becoming a key source of motivation.

“I was always pretty skinny, and at that time, I was 20 pounds underweight so I’d wrestle the scrawniest kids on the scene,” Bossow said. “But my sister made me keep going, and now, having gotten better, wrestling is actually really fun.”

This year, Bossow reached new heights in wrestling. In the six matches of the 106-pound weight class sectionals, he went 4-2, qualifying him for CCS and leaving him one win away from qualifying for CIF regionals.

While his sister gave him the unwavering support that eventually led to his love for wrestling, another factor that fueled Bossow’s inspiration was watching the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Champion, Anthony Robles — who was born without his right leg — never allow his perceived disability get in the way of wrestling success. 

“In my mind, my leg isn’t too big of a disadvantage in the sports I do, and especially for wrestling. Anthony Robles wrestled on one leg and ended up winning the NCAA championship, so I know it’s possible,” Bossow said.

No matter what they demand from him physically and mentally, sports have been imbued into Bossow’s lifestyle — from skiing down the mountains, to wrestling on the mat and playing water polo in heated contact, his athletic journey has and continues to be a key part of his life.

Through every fall on the slopes, every lap in the pool and every match on the mat, Bossow has proven that limits are not defined by circumstance, but by mindset. What began as a childhood filled with physical therapy and unanswered questions has turned into a life shaped by grit, growth and strength.

“Whenever I see little kids who recently lost their leg, I always tell them to try sports,” Bossow said. “Truth be told, sports are one of the best ways to get over yourself, with or without a disability.”