Sometimes you come across something on TV that truly captivates you. The kind of thing that actually makes you appreciate good reporting. I saw this on ESPN E: 60 which have a lot of inspiring athletic stories. I saw a small clip, and it showed a young boy doing drills for peewee football. He looked perfectly normal, and it made me wonder what exactly the story had to be about. This kid ended up being absolutely amazing. I don't want to describe everything about the video, because I would like for you to experience it for yourself. Please take the time to watch this. I'll give my thoughts in the following paragraphs.
I do have to admit that I watched this video several times. I'm also man enough to admit that it brought me to tears. I don't mean that in a bad way at all. It's so overwhelming that this eight-year-old kid could be so unselfish. It seems to be rare to find anyone like this anymore. I've also learned since I've been paralyzed that there are several other causes of paralysis. As they said in the video, the younger brother had cerebral palsy. So I looked up the information to learn more about it myself.
So I typed in cerebral palsy on Google. I found the website, US national Library of medicine-the world's largest medical library with information about cerebral palsy under diseases and conditions. This is exactly what it said.
"Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking. There are several different types of cerebral palsy, including spastic, dyskinetic, ataxic, hypotonic, and mixed. Cerebral palsy is caused by injuries or abnormalities of the brain. Most of these problems occur as the baby grows in the womb, but they can happen at any time during the first two years of life, while the baby's brain is still developing. In some people with cerebral palsy, parts of the brain are injured due to low levels of oxygen in the area. It is not known why this occurs. Premature infants have a slightly higher risk of developing cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy may also occur during early infancy as a result of several conditions, including:
• bleeding in the brain
• brain infections (encephalitis, meningitis, herpes simplex infections)
• head injury
• infections in the mother during pregnancy (rubella)
• severe jaundice
In some cases the cause of cerebral palsy is never determined." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001734/
It's amazing how much we can learn from younger children. There are a lot of lessons we can learn from this video. No matter what your situation in life is you can overcome it. I mean, the older brother Connor was very unselfish and understanding. He loved his brother no matter what. One of my favorite moments from the entire video was when he refused to race without his brother. He also didn't care about what place he finished as long as he finished with his brother. You could also tell how happy the parents were that their sons were so close. The most important thing for the mom was for her child to be accepted and respected. This is something we should all think about the next time we see a family with a special needs child. We should all try to treat every person the same as anyone else.
I hope that you enjoyed this video. This is exactly the goal that I've had for this blog. I love to share stories that inspire people. I would love to hear your reactions and how this video made you feel. It's always great to see positive experiences in the media. I get really tired of hearing so much negative news all the time. So please leave a comment below!
