Wednesday, November 07, 2007

November 8: Happy 16th Birthday, Aaron Fotheringham!

I don’t think of it as practice, I think of it as a fun way to live my life.

YouTube sensation and extreme wheelchair sports star Aaron Fotheringham is turning 16 this Thursday--somehow. As a mom, I'm just glad to see him wearing his helmet in all his "Hardcore Sitting" videos, like this one from summer 2006, billed as his execution of the world's first wheelchair backflip:

6 comments:

D Phoenix said...

Wow, you gave away the ending! there is a longer video of him working up to this trick and doing other edgy stunts; I suggest people check out Youtube if they want a real taste of this fellow's drive and enthusiasm. I am a daredevil at heart and have had to give up my rock climbing, motorcycle riding ways because my spine is just too fragile. I can walk, but I envy this guy his ability to be rough and tumble!

Anonymous said...

I went to YouTube and watched the longer version of the video... OH MAN! Aaron is fearless. I cried; though I'm not exactly sure if it's because I took great pride in one of our own, or if the mommy in me was scared to death.
Happy Birthday Aaron... may you live to see many more! (Keep wearing that helmet!)

Penny L. Richards said...

Donimo and Cilla are right, interested folks should definitely go see the longer clips. But I feel like I should wear a helmet just to watch them, ouch. (I had six concussions before the age of 20 without being a daredevil--can't imagine I would have survived if I had gone looking for this kind of thrill!)

Anonymous said...

What a cool kid! I'm sharing this with a parent in my family. Sooooo cool. Thanks for the big smile at the end of a long day.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Amazing! And that is not exactly the work of one day, is it?

I had to watch the longer video, though I can see how it would give you the heebie jeebies, Penny, as both a multiply concussed person and a mom! How fantastic, though, to see this kid just being a kid, having fun with what he's got -- and then teaching someone else.

I would never in a million years have thought of using a wheelchair as a skateboard, but that's just because I'm old. :) Quite thrilling to watch, every bit as beautiful as actual skateboarding or those crazy people who do the aerial skiing.

Happy birthday, Aaron!

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