Every time I go to visit my family in Claremont, a small suburban town outside of Orlando, Florida, my little cousins ask me to do a back flip off a wall. I love the attention, so I make them beg for it, not because I’m mean, it’s just nice to be the center of attention once in a while. Let’s just say it is one of the side effects from six years of bboying, also known as break dancing. So I usually act reluctant and tell them that I’ll do it the next day; and sure enough, the next day as soon as they see me they ask me to do the back flip. So I do it!

I know that the reason my little cousins enjoy watching me do a back flip off a wall is because the trick is evidence that we are not limited by our environment, for them the trick is an extraordinary act that inspires them to dream about achieving the inconceivable.

I know that is how my little cousins feel because that is the same way I feel when I watch Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham run off a ramp and do a back flip on a wheel chair!

Aaron Fotheringham is a wheelchair athlete from Las Vegas, Nevada. Aaron was born with Spina Bifida, a birth defect that affects the spinal cord. However, Aaron didn’t let Spina Bifida stop him, for Aaron Spina Bifida only meant that he had to figure out a different way to do things.

It is that approach that allowed Aaron to ride in skate parks at the age of 8. Although it was not easy at first, Aaron never gave up and eventually polished his skills to the point where he was able to win the 2005 Vegas AmJam BMX finals.

What can we learn from Aaron Fotheringham? Are obstacles really there to stop us from achieving our goals or are they there to inspire us into looking for an alternate route to achieve our goals? Perhaps obstacles are only there to make the flavor of victory and accomplishment a lot sweeter!

Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham’s Bio