Limp Forward
A Memoir of Disability, Perseverance, and Success
by Libo Cao Meyers 曹力波
Amazon
#1 Bestseller
Readers' Favorite 2024
Award Winner · Cultural Non-Fiction
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Featured Review
Dedication
To those who are underprivileged and invisible, yet still giving everything to reach their full potential, with dreams and goals.
To those who have been wronged and undervalued, yet still chasing relentlessly for what is right and fair, with faith and confidence.
To those who feel desperate and hopeless, yet still fighting against all the odds with even a slim chance of winning, with courage and perseverance.
To those who are fighters and dreamers, believing someday you may reach the impossible.
May this book give you the strength and inspiration, limping forward during your darkest moments.
Love and Strength,
Libo Cao Meyers
About the Author
"I believe that I can lose, but I can't give in. When I am told 'no,' I make my own 'yes.'"
— Libo Cao Meyers
Libo Cao Meyers is a technology builder and a veteran of Silicon Valley's innovative culture. Her mission is to build technology and service to enrich people's lives. Libo worked lastly as an engineering executive at Apple from 2011 to 2026.
Despite being diagnosed with polio as an infant while growing up in rural parts of Northern China, Libo Cao Meyers refused to let her disability hold her back. At the age of twenty-four, she immigrated alone to the United States and achieved an incredible feat by completing her MS and PhD simultaneously in two different engineering fields from Ohio University within four years. Her tech profession began in Silicon Valley in early 2004, where she has thrived in the culture of innovation ever since.
Libo's determination to push through limitations extends beyond her academic and professional life. She completed a one-hundred-mile bike ride, battling wind for eleven and a half hours, and is pursuing a black belt in Karate to lead her young sons by example. Additionally, she is learning to use an exoskeleton to play various sports with polio, demonstrating her commitment to defying physical limitations. Of all Libo has accomplished, she is most proud of her family, including the deep roots of the Cao family from China with 3,000 years of history. Libo lives in California with her husband and their two sons.
22 yrs
Silicon Valley technologist
100 mi
Century ride on one leg
3,000 yrs
Cao family heritage
About the Book
From being a little girl with polio in rural China to a tech executive at Apple, Libo Cao Meyers has navigated a life of extraordinary challenges with remarkable candor and a sense of humor. Limp Forward spans continents and generations across eleven chapters and 384 pages.
This memoir takes readers from Libo's polio diagnosis as an infant through her childhood surgeries, the pain of separation from family, academic triumphs against systemic discrimination, and the courageous decision to immigrate to America alone at age 24.
It follows her through earning dual graduate degrees, completing a 100-mile century bike ride on one leg, building a career at Apple, finding love and family, and tracing her 3,000-year Cao family heritage — culminating in an unforgettable story of what it means to limp forward.
The Journey in 11 Chapters
Polio and Childhood
Diagnosed with polio as an infant in rural Northern China, young Libo faces her first battles against a world not built for her.
Life Apart and on the Move
Separated from family and navigating life alone, she learns resilience before she even has a word for it.
United with Family
Reunion brings new hope and a fierce determination to pursue education — against every barrier placed in her way.
"It's All for Your Own Good"
Systemic discrimination and institutional exclusion push her to the edge — and reveal her unbreakable will.
Dual Graduate Degrees and a Job
Immigrating to America alone at 24, she earns an M.S. and Ph.D. simultaneously in just four years.
Perseverance, Pride, and a Century Ride
Completing a 100-mile bike ride with the strength of just one leg — 11.5 hours against the wind — as a declaration to herself and the world.
Reset, Reset Again in the Process
Building a career in Silicon Valley through setbacks, reinvention, and the quiet power of showing up.
Love, Marriage, Families, and Kids
Finding love, building a family, and discovering that the most important journeys happen at home.
Experiencing This Wonderful Life
Embracing life fully — as a mother, executive, keynote speaker, and advocate for those who feel invisible.
The Stories from Generations before Me
Tracing the 3,000-year Cao family legacy through Chinese history — and understanding the lineage that carried her here.
Conclusions
Reflections on perseverance, identity, and what it truly means to limp forward — one step, one breath, one chapter at a time.
Review Highlights
A vibrant story of a brilliant and industrious woman... a sweeping, intimate, and inspiring memoir.
An incredible true story that will motivate readers to overcome obstacles and achieve their dreams against all odds.
A powerful and moving memoir. Libo's story of resilience and triumph over incredible adversity is truly inspiring.
Author Interviews
Featured In
How a Disabled Chinese Immigrant Turned Polio and Ableism Into Becoming an Apple Executive and Author
by Steven Aquino
Read Article
Asian Pacific America interviews with Libo Meyers by Robert Handa.
by Robert Handa
