WHEELZ … Aaron Fotheringham pictured holding a microphone at Bryan Elementary School to teach students perseverance through fear. (PHOTO BY LINDSAY PHILLIPS, STAFF)
By: Lindsay Phillips
Courtesy of the Bryan Area Foundation, On October 11, Bryan Elementary School gathered all their students, grades kindergarten through fifth, in the gymnasium to meet the incredible Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham. As students shuffled in through the doors, Aaron was there to greet them.
Beginning at 9:00 a.m. Fotheringham shared his journey through extreme wheelchair sports and the struggles he faced and overcame.
Aaron is an extreme wheelchair athlete from Las Vegas, Nevada who performs tricks adapted from skateboarding and bicycle motocross.
He was the first person to successfully perform a backflip in a wheelchair at the age of fourteen.
Although being born with a birth defect of the spinal cord called Spina Bifida, nothing stopped him from accomplishing his extreme goals.
Throughout his life he lived by his motto, “Just give it two more tries,” which led him to being able to perform a double back flip at the age of eighteen.
Mr. Fotheringham has a big passion for what he does, which leads to his passion of wanting to change the worlds perception of people on wheelchairs by helping those see their challenges in a new way.
Students enjoyed seeing the videos Aaron shared of him wrecking his wheelchair and landing his backflips he worked for years to accomplish on the bike ramps.
As classes were dismissed back to their rooms, teachers, members of the Bryan Area Foundation and some students were able to get their picture taken in front of the foundation’s backdrop with Aaron.
Lindsay can be reached at lindsay@thevillagereporter.com