The Courage of a 9-Year-Old

Ezra Frech

As I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I came across a video that brought me to tears. 'The Inspirational Story of 9-Year-Old Ezra Frech'; and it truly was inspirational. As a junior in high school about to become a senior I am constantly daunted by the impending college applications that I am going to have to begin filling out, and the possibility of being rejected from some of those universities. To me applying to college takes a lot of courage, but after watching this video I have realized that what I think takes a lot of courage seems incredibly small to what young Ezra has to face everyday. He truly is courageous.

Ezra was born with one finger on his left hand and a full left leg that was curved. In order to fix some of this he underwent surgery when he was two and a half years old to remove his left leg and took the big toe from his left foot and put it on his left hand, so that he would have two fingers. He now wears a prothsetic on his left leg. Even with only two fingers on his left hand and a prothsetic on his left leg Ezra is a better athlete than I will ever be. He says sports help him forget about the fact the he is different and allow him to just focus on what is happening in the game; he enters game mode.

In the video we see Ezra participating in basketball, soccer, football and track. If this was any other kid one would say wow they're really athletic, but a lot of young kids play multiple sports, but for Ezra this is a tremendous accomplishment. When asked if he thinks he has to work harder than anyone else he uses this example to answer the question: "I bet kids when they take a step [think] 'oh I took a step, big deal'. But, for me when I take a step I say 'oh no big deal', but I though about every little bit." This comparison put's everything in to perspective for me. I don't even notice what is happening to my body when I walk up a set of stairs let alone one step, but for Ezra that one step takes a lot of strength.

In my opinion, the most inspiring thing that Ezra said throughout the entire video was his response to this question: "How do you stay positive?" His response was: "I have to think about what I have, instead of what I don't have." This was such a mature answer from someone who is just 9-years-old.

Please take the time to watch Ezra's video here.