Oksana Masters with Cassidy Randall Wins a Christopher Award

Oksana Masters from Louisville, Ky., with Cassidy Randall, Missoula, Mont., has won a Christopher Award for The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph, (Scribner/Simon & Schuster). It is one of 12 books for adults and young people as the Christopher Awards program marks its 75th year.

In the book Paralympic gold medalist Masters shares her journey from being abused at a Ukrainian orphanage, to adoption by a loving American mother, to thriving in sports despite her physical disabilities. She was born with severe disabilities in her legs and hands, spending the first years in orphanages. After being adopted by Gay Masters, an American, she finally found a loving, supportive, and encouraging mother. However, her past traumas and two leg amputations in the U.S. left her with deep mental and emotional problems. Sports became a healing outlet for her, and she eventually fought her way to become a gold, silver, and bronze medalist in several Paralympic games.

Masters, born in Ukraine in 1989, faced numerous physical challenges due to in utero radiation poisoning from Chernobyl. After living in three orphanages, at age seven she was adopted by an American mother. She is America’s most decorated Winter Paralympian—a winner of 17 medals in four sports. In 2020, she won the Laureus World Sports Award in the category of “Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.” Her story has appeared from Sports Illustrated to The New York Times to the Players’ Tribune—and she has participated in high fashion shoots for cosmetic and clothing lines created by such stars as Rihanna and Kim Kardashian.

Cassidy Randall is an award-winning freelance writer telling stories on environment, adventure, and people expanding human potential.

Christopher Awards were also given to creators of 11 TV/Cable shows and feature films.

The Awards celebrate authors, and illustrators as well as writers, producers and directors whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit” and reflects the Christopher motto, “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”

Tony Rossi, The Christophers’ Director of Communications, said, “We’re often told that we can better understand a person if we walk a mile in their shoes. While that may not be physically possible, our book, film, and TV winners allow us to do that through engagingly told stories that introduce us to people and places different from our own, yet relatable in a variety of ways.”

The Christophers, a nonprofit founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org.