Irish Tenor's Recipe for Accomplishment

March 10, 2005 -- -- You could say Irish singer Ronan Tynan puts a whole new spin on the famous ballad "To Dream the Impossible Dream" -- as much as in life as in his luminescent voice.

His dulcet tones have marked the passing of one president, the inauguration of another and brought tears to the devastated rescue workers at Ground Zero after 9/11.

But Tynan is not only one of the top tenors in the world. He's also a licensed medical doctor and a world-class athlete. And he did all this as a double amputee.

Tynan says his impressive life story has been the result of a relentlessly positive attitude -- a way of looking at the world that constantly defied self-doubt and always valued hard work.

"I am willing to work and prepare and polish," he told ABC News' Cynthia McFadden. "And then to crown it, you add that extra ingredient. You have the spirit."

Tynan was born in Ireland 44 years ago -- with both legs deformed, and each splayed foot displaying only three toes. Doctors said he would never walk.

His parents were devastated. They took the doctors' advice and left him in the ward of a children's hospital. Tynan says his parents were told he would have corrective surgery. But it never happened.

He also said, "That was the accepted practice [with such children]," he said. "Hide them."

But when Tynan reached the age of 3, his parents decided they had enough and brought him home to their farm southwest of Dublin. "I never resented what they did," he said, "because I think they showed me so much love after it."

The Tynans were determined to see their boy walk. As a boy he spent hours with his father, Edmond, talking and singing. The senior Tynan was easy to love. He constantly told young Ronan he was terrific.

"Eventually, you believe it. You do," the singer said. "You believe it because you see in others what others see in you -- a strength waiting to be harnessed."

His mother, Therese, was different. "She wasn't the doting mother who would slop and slurry and cry over you, and 'Oh God, love you,' " he said. She wouldn't rest until he accomplished something.