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No arms, no legs, no problem
Photo courtesy of ESPN
Written by Johnny Parker-Staff Writer
Kyle Maynard has dealt with the odds stacked against him from the day he was born. Maynard was born with a condition known as congenital amputation, a condition that leaves its victims with arms that end at the start of the elbow and feet that end at the start of the knees. Despite this, Maynard’s father wanted his son to be able to conduct a normal lifestyle. At the age of one year old, Maynard’s father announced they would no longer be helping Kyle perform tasks a one year old without disabilities would be able to do. Young Kyle soon learned how to eat using a prosthetic spoon and would eventually graduate to regular silverware. His father wanted his son to someday live on his own without needing help from others, and did everything in his power to help make Maynard the type of person he is today.
When Maynard was in the sixth grade, he convinced his mother to let him play organized football with other boys his age. At first, his mother was nervous about her 60-pound son with a major disability playing tackle football, but Kyle begged his mother and eventually changed her mind on the matter. Kyle started lifting two and a half pound weights on each arm in order to build shoulder strength for football. He also used his height to his advantage, while playing nose tackle for his team and perfected several moves such as the “butt roll.”
While Kyle never started for his team, he never let it get him down. “I didn’t quit or give up. I met the adversity with a full head of steam. I wanted to change the way players and coaches saw me—not as a disabled player, but as a defensive lineman who could inflict more damage than anyone else had before,” said Kyle. This attitude also carried with him into wrestling season, a sport he picked up to stay in shape for football during the off-season.
Coach Ramos, Kyle’s wrestling coach, is the man that Kyle credits helping him more then anyone else. Ramos wanted to help this young man with this severe disability be the best he could and the duo took major strives to do so.
“From the beginning, he willingly devoted himself to helping me succeed. I look up to him because I believe wrestling has forged him into a man of strength and fortitude in life, not just in this sport,” said Kyle.
Kyle’s first year of the sport was extremely difficult with Kyle losing every single one of his matches. Kyle started his junior high career with 35 straight loses but half way through seventh grade that all changed for the better. Kyle learned to use his body to his advantage and created moves such as the ‘jawbreaker’ and ‘buzz saw.’ Maynard ended his high school career with 35 wins and 16 losses. Maynard even finished 12th in the 103-weight class at the National High School Wrestling Championships. Kyle was also doing well in classroom. He averaged a 3.7 G.P.A, and was accepted to Georgia Tech were he continued his wrestling career.
In 2004, Kyle earned the ESPY award for Best Athlete with a Disability. He also earned a Courage Award from the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. Kyle can now lift about 400 pounds on the modified bench press and credits all of his triumphs on competitiveness.
“I am an athlete driven by competition. Without the sport of wrestling, I would not be where I am today. There are so many problems and difficulties that I will never have to endure because of the character I’ve developed through wrestling,” said Maynard. “It is my discipline and my passion. I will never come into a match unprepared and in a worse cardiovascular condition than the kid I’m up against, because that is an advantage I can’t afford to give up.”
Maynard, 22, now travels the world giving inspirational speeches to kids everywhere; spreading the message of motivation and will power
“I believe God made me the way I am in order to show people that there is no amount of adversity that a single person cannot overcome if they trust in themselves and trust in the will of Jesus Christ.”
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