Zipping around with her hockey stick in hand, Rose, 35, is in her element but the mum-of-two is literally half the size of the other skaters. A bone disorder left her missing the bottom half of her body.

In fact, her two-year-old already towers over her. But being half a woman doesn’t mean she has half a life. With her skates strapped to her skateboard, she relishes her family life, and joins in with the vigor of a woman twice her size.

I took one of my boards and bolted three blades from old ice skates to the bottom,” says Rose.

I play in goal, while Luke and Dave do the dashing around and Shelby bashes about on the ice with her hockey stick. The kids think it’s the best sport on earth.

A fully-trained mechanic who home schools Luke herself, ice hockey is just the latest in a string of seemingly impossible activities Rose takes in her stride.

When she was born, doctors discovered she had developed sacral agenesis, a deformity of the of the lower back, while in the womb, leaving her without a pelvis, part of her spine missing and deformed legs and feet.

At the age of two, her mum Cecilia had to make the agonizing choice between confining her to a wheelchair for life or having both her legs amputated at the hips, giving her the opportunity to get around on her hands. But Rose found prosthetic legs very uncomfortable, and discovered a much simpler way to get about on a skateboard.

“It just made sense, although it attracted a lot of unwelcome attention,” she says.

But Rose and her family were determined her disability would never hold her back as she grew up in Pueblo, Colorado, in the US.

“I didn’t get special attention,” she says. “No one mentioned the word ‘disabled’. I played with my friends, did my chores, dated, went to school like everyone else.”

After learning to drive a car that she and her dad, James, specially adapted with hand controls, Rose studied to become a race car driver and mechanic, which is how she met husband Dave in 1994.

“Dave worked at a garage shop and I had to call to order car parts,” she says. “He had such a lovely voice, and I couldn’t help but flirt with him.”

After countless conversations, Dave, now 38, finally invited her along to the shop so they could meet in person.

“I have to admit he looked shocked when I rolled in on my skateboard,” says Rose. “I joked about, trying to make him forget about my disability, but I didn’t think he’d look twice at a girl with half her body missing.”

But Dave, an engineering student, surprised her by seeing past the skateboard, and asking her out.

After two years of dating, they married in 1996 in a big white wedding, where Rose walked down the aisle on he hands, and the cake was bigger than she was.

Two years later, she discovered she was pregnant.

“I think doctors were just surprised I had sex,” she laughs. “But down there I’m just like every other woman totally normal.”

Although she and Dave were overjoyed to be expecting their first baby, every medic she spoke with advised her to have a termination.

“They thought the baby would grow too big and crush me,” says Rose. “I told my mum if there were any complications, and a choice between my life and the baby’s, she should choose the baby.

Despite everyone’s concerns, the pregnancy went well. Luke was born fit and healthy by Caesarean section in January 1999, making Rose the first woman with sacral agenesis in the world to give birth.

When Reveal told her incredible story, she had just put her life on the line for second time to give birth to her daughter Shelby.

“I always wanted another baby, but this time it was difficult. My body was very heavy and I couldn’t move for months,” she says.

“I had to have an emergency Caesarean section and lost a lot of blood as my appendix and gall bladder had to be taken out at the same time.”

It was a dangerous time for Rose, but luckily her beautiful baby girl was delivered safely in February 2006 and after five months of bed rest, she was back on her skateboard with Shelby strapped to her front.

“The pregnancy was terrifying, but as soon as I saw her, I was glad I’m gone through it all,” she says. “She’s perfect.”

Now two years old, little Shelby already towers over her two-foot-tall mum and loves scrambling on top of the washing machine and cooker – copying Rose, who has to heave herself over appliances to get her housework done.

Although Rose would love to add yet another baby to her brood, and prides herself on having overcome every obstacle that has been put in her way, she knows that this time she’s finally reached her limits.

“I would love to have a third baby, but there’s no way my body would cope – it would kill me,” she says.

“I’ve given life my best shot, and had two children who are just perfect. I don’t want to push my luck!”

THE FLYING CAR–FEARLESS BEAUTY, 18, PEFORMS STUNT THAT IS SUPER DANGEROUS. SHOT IN DENMARK. A daring woman driver takes no back seat when it comes to performing a deadly stunt involving a car, a ramp and a trampoline! Danish daredevil Cathrine Hermansen is one of only three people in the world to perfect the thrilling “Death Car” routine. Catherine begins by climbing a 45-foot ladder to the perch where her Death Car waits. She climbs in, releases a brake and lets gravity do the rest. The car hurtles down a rattling track at 35 m.p.h. toward the upturned end which will flip Catherine and her vehicle into midair. Catherine and the car do a complete 360-degree loop. She lands on a trampoline the size of a kiddy pool. “It’s very dangerous,” notes the stuntwoman’s agent, John Mattson of Silkesborg, Denmark. “There’s nothing to protect her neck and head should the car land upside down or fall short of the trampoline. But danger seems to be something she can’t live without.” The terrifying 10-second stunt is all in a day’s work for Catherine, who gladly tempted fate twice so photographer Jeff Werner could capture these amazing shots.

Grass Valley, CA-He’s the most famous dog in America and the Guinness World Record holder for the world’s tallest dog, standing at an amazing 42.2 inches.  But now Gibson, the “Harlequin” Great Dane who won over a nation with his appearances on “Oprah” and other TV shows, has lost his front right leg to bone cancer.

Veterinarians found a tumor on his front paw several months ago, and diagnosed the condition as osteosarcoma, a form of malignant bone cancer that strikes dogs and cats in addition to humans.  Acting with extreme caution, the doctors removed his entire front right leg to prevent the possible spread of the cancer.

For the past weeks, Gibson has been recuperating at his home in Grass Valley, a Gold Rush-era town about 60 miles east of Sacramento in the Sierra foothills, nursed by his owner and human companion, Sandy Hall.  When the news broke, Hall says that well wishers from around the world have been calling and sending emails to see how he’s doing.  The answer to that question, as these first exclusive pictures show, is just fine.

“Gibson is getting back into life pretty well, actually,” Hall recently told About.com’s Buck Wolf.  “Dogs adapt quickly to challenges.  Much better than us two-legged humans!”

Gibson is a certified therapy dog and just this week resumed his work with cancer patients and others who need some cheering up from the friendly canine, making a return visit to the Brunswick Village assisted living community in Grass Valley.  “His ability to uphold his world title will continue to put smiles on people’s faces and uplift the spirit of those who are survivors of bone cancer,” Hall told a reporter.

Despite the loss of the leg, which hasn’t affected his height or his tallest dog title, Gibson has bounced back and has learned to walk, albeit with a bit of a limp, and even run short distances with Hall in toe.  It might be a few months before Hall lets him resume his famous stance, however.  “I don’t want him to stand up on my shoulders, which is the pose most people have come to expect from all our appearances and photo shoots,” Hall said.  “He might break his stitches if he did.”

Gibson just began the first in a round of chemotherapy treatments, which he is enduring well.  Getting him to eat is still a problem, however.  In these photos, Hall takes Gibson to visit one of his Vets, Melanie Curtis, D.V.M., at the Best Friends Animal Clinic in Grass Valley, for a check up.  Then the duo goes to a local pet food store to buy some special food to bulk the Great Dane up for his chemo treatments.  Along the way, fans stop to take pictures and pet the loveable Dane.

“He just puts a smile on people’s faces” Hall says.  “In one split second, people forget their cares and worries.  I just love him to death.  He’s such a great companion.”

Sandy and Gibson recently appeared on Animal Planet’s “Outrageous Animals, and despite the chemo, they’re celebrating the paperback release of their book “Gibson Speaks,” recounting his adventures with Oprah Winfrey, Jay Leno, Paris Hilton, and other alpha dogs, according to About.Com.

The medical expenses have been a real headache for Hall.  “All of our expenses have been exhausted,” she said.  “But we’re pushing on.”

For those who may wish to help, you can go to Gibson’s website:  www.gibsondog.com.