Boing Boing

Kid with cerebral palsy skateboards for first time with help from mom and technology

This will make you smile. And it's real.

This incredible video of a young boy in Brazil skateboarding for the first time is going viral.

John has cerebral palsy, and adaptive technology — not to mention committed parents and loving family! — made his dreams of becoming a skateboarder come true.

The company that makes these is SkateAnima, and they are based in Brazil.

Look at that smile.

Watch the while video, and turn the sound on.

Here's the translation, from Portuguese:

It's raining here in Curitiba and I'll go crazy and post this #tbt late another rainy day. My son is 7 years old. He is a boy full of wills, desires, dreams, and one of them was for a long time skateboarding. He has cerebral palsy since suffering a stroke at 1 year and 8 months. For children who have cerebral palsy, or any other kind of disability, having desires and dreams is not allowed. The world is always telling us no. we must not, we cannot, it will not work, there is no adaptation. We do not belong. For a long time I tried to supply this dream of John with other features, bike, walker, electric double skate with me – I do not recommend for people who, like me, are able to trip on their own feet. Nothing worked. until I met @skate_anima. a project played by two amazing guys @danielpaniagua_ and @stevan_pinto who could not stand still in the dream of another young girl with cerebral palsy. she wanted the same thing as john: skateboarding. and these guys were restless thinking how absurd this structure makes children and young people not dream, no matter who they are. Both of them, a physiotherapist and a psychologist, love skateboarding, and they thought it was only fair that every child could have a chance to love too: freedom, seeing him in the face, adrenaline. they invented, built, found a way to do the impossible as possible, and since then have fulfilled the dreams of many people, including John. yesterday the video of the first time joao was with them (I'll put in the stories) ended up in an important international skate platform, and so we are transforming what is normal, what belongs, who belongs, and what is possible. and the self-esteem of a guy who's all proud around here. thank you @skate_anima for so much, always. You deserve the world. @berrics thank you for taking my lion for a ride.
#tbt the day we walk in the rain. video: @skate_anima

More videos of John below.

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