L - R: Dwayne Johnson and Nick Santonastasso
Photo credit: Instagram
With over 14 thousand followers on Twitter and over 300 thousand followers on Instagram, Nick Santonastasso has become a man no individual can look down on despite his physical disabilities. He is a source of inspiration to many and he is a living proof that you can do whatever you want as long as you believe in yourself.
Photo credit: Instagram
Nick is from Breville, New Jersey. He was born with Hanhart syndrome, a rare birth defect that left him with no legs, an undeveloped right arm, and a left arm with one finger. Nick is the youngest of four children, and his parents found out about possible complications with his birth when his mother, Stace, was in her third trimester.
“We figured, let nature take its course, and we would prepare our children for what their brother would be and put it in God’s hands,’’ Mike, his father said.
Doctors told his parents that Nick was only the 12th case of Hanhart syndrome diagnosed in the world when he was born. Hanhart syndrome can cause an incompletely developed tongue, missing fingers and toes, malformed arms or legs and an extremely small jaw.
Doctors also told his parents that his mobility would be limited. But at the age of 2, Nick shocked his parents when he pushed his wagon up next to the table, climbed into the wagon, then got up onto a chair before pushing himself onto the table, in a short while Nick was already on the table, watching TV and dancing.
Nick started to play the drums in elementary school and played it up to middle school, you probably might wonder how, his hands were a bit longer then before he had it trimmed. His disabilities didn't stop him from doing want he wanted. In High school, he wrestled on his high school team, he sang, and most of all, he inspired others like is he still doing today.
From that moment he made it up on the table to dance to MTV at age 2, Nick has been on the move. He used a skateboard to get around while growing up, learned to play the drums, and has tried out seemingly every sport from football to dodgeball to Ping-Pong. He even partook in scuba diving.
He also has become accustomed to the stares and whispers of strangers when they see him. He has prosthetic legs, but does not use them in public, saying "It just wouldn't be me." In school, he used a wheelchair to get around the hallways. And in case you don't know, Nick drives too!
Photo credit: YouTube
His father said, “He lives by inspiring others not to sit idle, though he can’t change who he is, but he’s not going to stop living because of that. Nick is not somebody to sit on the sidelines, and never has been, he comes up with these little creative ways to get himself out there and try to live life to the fullest. He keeps us all wondering what he’s going to do next.”
In a YouTube post, Nick said,
"You have to adapt to the way you are. Before you'll learn to love anyone, you've got to learn how to love yourself. You have to love every single thing about you, you can't say you don't like something about you because it's your life, you live with it every single day, that's what you're stuck with."
He also said, "You have to be determined if you want to do something, you have to have that positive outlook. You shouldn't say you can't do it, you can do anything you put your mind to. You have to know yourself, you got to know what you can push yourself to, you've got to know how far you can go. If I can push myself to doing great things, you can do even greater things than I can ever do. You have so much potential especially you with a complete body part. Just have a little confidence in yourself and believe in yourself. I'm saying this because I've been through the worst of the worst, and the best of the best and I have learnt the hard way. You can do amazing things because that's just who you are."
Photo credit: Every day quotes
Nick also said, “Wrestling is a lesson, I grew up with failure. Failure made me who I am, and in wrestling, there’s a lot of failure. I’ve had a lot of losses, but you just learn from it and get stronger. You realize who you are, and how strong you are, mentally and physically. It’s made me a better person.”
Nick wrestles mainly by feel, and he gets mad when he thinks his opponent is letting him win.
• Nick wrestling
Photo credit: Today Show
Here is a what Dwayne Johnson had to say about Nick (Courtesy of Instagram):
Power Of Choice
Think about this one for a second...
Photo credit: Instagram
Nick was born with one arm and no legs. In his mind, there's nothing he can't do.. And he is right. He's right because he does everything he sets his mind to. Competed as an amateur wrestler, motivational speaker, trains like a beast and today he competes in his first body building contest.
We chatted after my workout, about the power of choice. He said, "I could have been pissed at the world for being born like this, but instead, I choose to live life to the fullest, be happy and crush any thing I put my mind to and hopefully, I can inspire people to do the same."
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