…Or Pin Them Down…

Tuesday’s post was about holding children back that are born with disabilities.  I don’t quite get it, really.  I suppose I can understand the protective nature of parents wanting to keep their children from harm and uncertainty, possibly shielding them from ridicule and pain.  However, isn’t that real life?  It doesn’t make it any easier, but it’s still the real world.  People can be mean.  Some lessons aren’t fun to learn, but if we don’t pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off, we can’t go on and get better.

I recently read an article in our local newspaper about a high school student in Pensacola who was born with cerebral palsy who is now participating on his varsity wrestling team.  Before I continue with the story, I want to note how people with developmental disabilities come in all shapes and sizes.  You can’t put them all in one big box nor can they all be treated the same.  There are those with deformities and disabilities that impair their movement and senses like hearing, sight, etc.  There are others with intellectual disabilities that affect their cognitive skills and still others who may qualify for both groups.  As a society, it has become easy to lump them all into the same category of developmentally disabled, however their needs, abilities and disabilities vary greatly.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I want to tell you about Brandon Skinner, if you haven’t already heard about this remarkable 16-year-old.  According to the article first published in the Pensacola News Journal, he used to be teased a lot in elementary and middle school because of his disability that caused him to limp and keep his hand pinned to his body.  But when he entered high school he had a different plan to combat the insults.  Following an extensive surgery when he was 13, he was able to gain a little more mobility in his right leg and eventually was able to stop wearing leg braces during the day and start running. 

Brandon’s father was a wrestler in high school, and he always found it interesting.  After his surgery he decided it was a path he wanted to take.  His father easily admits that he didn’t like the idea at all. (Sounds like he wanted to hold him back.)  But Brandon’s physician assured his parents it was something he could do.

Now in his second year of wrestling, he has worked extra hard to be competitive, lifting weights all the time, especially on his weaker side, and participated in summer camps and extra preparation in the offseason.  He gets up at 5 a.m. to lift weights, work out or run just to stay competitive.  It has paid off.  His first year, he didn’t win a match, but through his determination and strong will to succeed, he won five matches in his sophomore season. 

Brandon Skinner is an inspiration to anyone with a disability and a will to be more and do more, all because his parents didn’t pin him down.