Scott Belkner proves that having a disability doesn’t have to stop you from living your life in this inspiring video.
When he was little, Scott’s mother tried to teach him how to swim, but he couldn’t. She took him to see doctors and they gave her the bad news.
Her son had cerebral palsy. His future was so bleak that they asked her if she wanted to put him in a home.
“Hell no,” was her answer, according to Scott, now 30 years old.
He can’t speak, but he uses a touch-screen device to write, and it speaks for him. He has limited mobility in his arms, but he goes to the gym and lifts 30-pound dumbbells without any assistance. He has cerebral palsy and has been told all his life that he can’t do things, but he doesn’t buy into that.
“You can see me now. You know that is bullshit,” he says.
He admits that it is hard to have cerebral palsy, that it takes him longer to do things, but he can still do them.
He refuses to be shamed by his disability: the video shows him changing the weights on the bench press and using the treadmill. They aren’t glamorous shots—he drops a weight and fumbles with the safety clip on the treadmill, and because of his limited mobility it isn’t graceful—but it’s real. It shows how difficult the tasks are, but it also shows that he is ultimately just a guy going to the gym.
Scott’s video has garnered him a lot of attention. He answered questions on a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” post, and he even has a job offer.
“If you have [a] disability, [and] you want [to] do something—do it,” Scott says.
Video: Eli G/YouTube
As a parent of a child with CP (and a touch of autism), this video brought tears to my eyes.