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Fort Carson youth athlete overcomes disability

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Contributed by: Karen Linne on 4/9/2008

by Walt Johnson
Fort Carson Mountaineer staff
Watch Dustin Williams on the athletic fields on post and you see a young man with energy, vigor enthusiasm and a young man's desire to play sports.
That makes him just like most young people who play sports at Fort Carson, but look a little closer and you see there is a difference in Williams. Williams was born without the use of his right arm, which would probably keep most people away from competitive sports. Williams is not one of those people.
Williams' father Anthony Daniel Williams and his mother Dennen Williams made a decision about their son the moment they knew he was born without the use of his arm according to Anthony Williams. The decision they made was to let Dustin have the most normal, active life he wanted to have. Part of that upbringing was letting him get involved with youth sports.
"There weren't really any concerns about putting him into youth sports; it was more a matter of helping him with his confidence. We wanted to make sure he had a normal life interacting with people. Not just people his own age but those older than him because we wanted him to know he can do anything. We wanted him to understand that just because he doesn't have use of his right arm doesn't mean that he is not capable of doing things all people do," Anthony Williams said.
"I don't think it was as much a process to help him understand the reason he didn't have use of his right hand as much as it was me being a father and wanting the best for my son. I was really determined to let my son know that he can do anything and never let anyone tell him that he couldn't do something. I am a classic example of not letting someone tell me what I can't do but more important I wanted to let him know that he doesn't have to follow in my footsteps, but blaze a path of his own and have the confidence that he can get it done," Williams added.
Anthony Williams said he is proud of the way his son has adjusted to his unique situation, but the one thing he is most proud of is his son is making the decisions about being active in athletics. He said he hopes that will carry over to his high school years but the choice will be his alone.
"Right now, I think we are building the foundation for him to be in a position to make the decision on playing sports when he gets to high school. I would like for him to do it but it will be his decision. The only thing I would like to see him do is give it his best effort and try to do it if he wants to. If he doesn't succeed one year, there will always be the next year. I will encourage him to try to play. I think he will want to play when he gets to high school, based on what we are establishing with him now."

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CONTRIBUTOR INFO

Karen Linne

Colorado Springs , CO

Karen Linne has posted 70 stories and 0 comments since joining on 8/29/2007. Karen Linne 's average story rating is 4.89.

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