Mother Caught Gym Teacher Walking Up To Her Disabled Son To Do THIS

May 22, 2019 by apost team

At only 11 years old, Matt Woodrum knows that he is different but that doesn’t stop him from trying to be as “normal” as he can be.

Matt heard his school was putting on a 400-meter-race and decided that he wasn’t going to let his diagnosis of cerebral palsy stop him from participating.

He wanted so badly to be a part of the race but even more, he wanted to be able to match his friends with every stride they took.

Early in the race, Matt fell behind the others. With the finish line in his sight, he began to slow down and struggle a good bit. The end was beginning to seem unreachable. His gym teacher, John Blaine, just wasn’t having this. Blaine approached Matt and begin to encourage him as he jogged along his side. He told him that he knew that he would finish this race. When others saw what Blaine was doing, they wanted to support Matt too. Many students flooded the finish line cheering Matt on the entire way!

That the race was harder than Matt anticipated it and he did feel like giving up at times but he was determined to finish it. In an interview with ABC 6, Matt admits that he was very encouraged by the kindness of others and that it really did help him to finish the race. 

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His mother, Anne Curran, recalls times that Matt has pushed through in other aspects of his life. She states that he is always able to push through the pain no matter how long or hard the task is. “He wants to go big or go home,” she says. She remembers the moment when everyone was joining in to support Matt at the race. Not a single face was dry, including hers. She feels that this was a moment that she’ll never forget. It was priceless.

Years since then, Blaine and Matt received a sportsmanship award called the Stan Musial Award. This particular award is a celebration that honors the greatest moments in regards to sportsmanship in North America. Blaine states that many children have difficulty showing real sportsmanship in competition because they haven’t been taught what they should do when those particular feeling arise. He feels that teaching your children early can create great sportsmanship for the rest of their lives. Crossing that finish first isn’t always the most important thing. Victory can be found in many other ways.

Cerebral palsy isn’t just one disorder but a group of them that affects a person’s ability to keep balance and appropriate posture along with moving their body as they choose to. CP is known to be one of the more common disorders in childhood in relation to motor disability. Cerebral means of the brain while palsy defines a weakness occurring in the muscle area. CP derives from an abnormality in the brain during development or can be caused by damage during the developmental stage.

CP is known to be one of the more common disorders in childhood in relation to motor disability. Cerebral means of the brain while palsy defines a weakness occurring in the muscle area. CP derives from an abnormality in the brain during development or can be caused by damage during the developmental stage.

What do you think about Blaine’s actions? Isn't he a true hero? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this along to others and make their day a little brighter with Matt’s story!