July 29, 2009

Steve Brawner
Special to Rivals High

Aaron Fotheringham gains speed rolling down the BMX ramp until he hits an incline that propels him through a back flip. He sticks the four-wheeled landing perfectly.

That's right - four wheels. Born with spina bifida, Aaron is the first person to successfully complete the trick in a wheelchair and is pioneering a sport he calls "hardcore sitting."

Aaron Fotheringham lands a handstand
Video Courtesy: HowStuffWorks.com

He has performed in Germany, Korea, the Czech Republic and across the United States, and he has served as a stunt double in a German movie chase scene and in a yet-to-be-broadcast television show in the United States. His back flip earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

That's quite a list of accomplishments for a kid who doctors said wouldn't be able to sit independently because of his spina bifida, which occurs when a baby's spine does not close early during a pregnancy. The results are different in every child. In Aaron's case, his hips are too shallow for his legs to stay in their hip sockets.

"I've always had it, and it's all I've known, so it's really no big deal," he said. "I don't even think of myself as disabled or whatever, because I'm not."

Despite his challenging diagnosis, his adoptive parents, Steve and Kaylene, did not hesitate to choose him to raise when they first saw him in the hospital when he was 2 months old.

"We just decided, 'Well, somebody's got to take care of him, why not us?' " Kaylene said. "So we took it on. And as he grew up, he was so much more able and capable and independent and feisty and a fighter. You know, he may not be able to walk, but he was going to figure out a way to get into trouble anyway, just like any 2-year-old."

Encouraged by his parents to do anything he wanted - including sliding down the stairs headfirst - Aaron met most milestones at about the same pace as his peers and could walk with crutches. (He even wrote a couple of stories about "Crutch Boy," the hero who always saves the day.)

As his body grew, however, it became obvious that neither his legs nor his arms could support his weight, so he transitioned into a wheelchair.

One day when he was 8, his older brother, Brian, and friends encouraged him to roll down a shallow ramp at a skate park. It was a scary first ride, and indeed, Aaron crashed hands first.

But soon, he was hooked. Six months after his initial trip down the ramp, he accomplished his first trick - lifting up one of the back wheels while traversing a bump, which he now describes as "lame."

The more he rode, the better he became, though he admits that the process involved "falling in every way possible." Following his own mantra - "Don't be an idiot" - he always wore a helmet and never attempted tricks he didn't think he was ready to master.

His parents, reasoning that his activities were no more dangerous than what Brian and the rest of the boys in the neighborhood were doing, never stood in his way.

"We never once sat down and said, 'Gee, I wonder if we ought to let him do this,' " Steve said. "We didn't think for a minute that we could stop him."

The only real problem in the beginning was the chair, which he broke not long after starting his new hobby. The insurance company would not replace it, and a new one would cost $3,000 to $5,000. The parents of five other adopted children, Steve and Kaylene patched it up as best they could and told him he couldn't take it to the skate park again.

That changed when their friends raised the money to buy him a new one - this time a Colours wheelchair that supposedly was strong enough to withstand the punishment.

When he performed his first airborne 180 out of the box, Steve sensed an opportunity, videotaped the performance and sent it to the company. A letter soon arrived from the president, John Box, encouraging them to call him directly whenever they needed anything. The company has sponsored him since.

The back flip was his toughest trick yet. Because Aaron doesn't get a lot of air on takeoff, he has had to master a very tight spiral that he finally successfully completed on July 13, 2006. He has since added other stunts, including a spectacular hand plant that he says is his favorite.

His bag of tricks enables him to compete at BMX events against bikers. Initially worried that some competitors would resent the sympathy vote he might get from judges, Aaron instead has felt completely accepted. Competitors share tips and play practical jokes on him the same way they do each other.

Aaron knows he is an inspiration. At public events, he gladly shares his time with journalists - but not until after he has visited with the kids in wheelchairs who have come to see their hero perform.

In addition to his performances and stunt work, he is learning to weld so he can build extreme wheelchairs for others who might want to participate in the sport.

Aaron has always seen his condition as an opportunity. Because he's been able to have such an impact on so many people - and because he is having so much fun - he doesn't regret having what most would call a "disability."

"If someone came up to me with a magic wand and it was like, 'Do you want to walk?' I'd probably say no," he said, "because why would you want to walk when you can roll?"

MORE ON WHEELZ: AaronFotheringham.com | HowStuffWorks.com