Underdog Motivation

Likewise these seven people with disabilities believed they could win and were motivated to prove people wrong.

1. DJ Gardner, an amputee without arms, manages a carpet cleaning business and uses his feet for daily living activities. Gardner ignored the doubts people had about him. His advice? “Don’t let obstacles stop you, there’s always a way around it, through it, under it . . . it can be done.”
2. Josh Sams, an amputee without lower legs, was not expected to walk again. But after dozens of surgeries and months of rehabilitation he defied medical expectations and can walk with prosthetics.
3. Dan Mancina lost 90 percent of his vision while working as a professional skateboarder. Even though most people assumed blindness would end his career, he continues to skate.
4. When her daughter with dwarfism started school, Erin Pritchard’s mother was told that Erin wouldn’t achieve anything. She was assumed to have low intelligence. Erin showed otherwise by earning a PhD, teaching at a university, and writing a book— Dwarfism, Spatiality and Disabling Experiences—now available on Amazon.com.
5. For two years Todd Scanlon, a man with Down Syndrome, begged a contractor for work as a scaffolder. Finally, the contractor gave Todd a chance and discovered that his disability didn’t hold him back. Todd did all the tasks required of him, got on with the guys, and began an apprenticeship to earn his qualifications.
6. Katherine Wolf had a small chance of surviving a brain stem stroke that affected her vision, hearing, and mobility. She chose to go with what she had and found joy in her new life, rather than wish for her old life.
7. The parents of 15-year old Melanie Jacobs were told to prepare for her funeral when she developed a rare debilitating condition. Fifteen years later she is alive and well. Melanie became a top model who used a wheelchair. She refused to accept the prognosis that she’d never walk again and underwent surgery that made walking possible.

The lyrics of Alicia Keys “Underdog” 2020 release capture the underdog’s spirit:

“They say I would never make it
but I was built to break the mold.’
. . .This goes out to the underdog
Keep on keeping at what you love
You’ll find that someday soon enough
You will rise up, rise up, yeah.”

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
Philippians 4:13, New Living Translation

This post was inspired by #NationalUnderdogDay. To read more of my writings, go to my website at https://angelamuirvanetten.com, subscribe to my weekly blog, and find retail links to my book, Pass Me Your Shoes: A Couple with Dwarfism Navigates Life’s Detours with Love and Faith.