A Reminder To Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself

Here’s one guy who will inspire you to stop whining and just make your life work.

Are you having a rough day?

2. Oh yeah, that’s tough.

Source: daves4

3. Wow, you’re so brave.

Source: daves4

4. That sucks about your Pizza Rolls, man. How are you going to get through that?

Source: daves4

5. Oh jeez, I’m so sorry.

6. Oh. Why am I here? I just thought you should get to meet Shaquem Griffin. He has one hand.

Source: (Tampa Bay Times/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Yeah, he was born with amniotic band syndrome. That means when he was in utero, the amniotic sac was wrapped around his wrist, which cut off circulation and generally caused his left hand to be both deformed and extremely painful. So when he was 4 years old, he had it amputated.

8. This is what that can look like around fingers, so imagine it around his wrist. It wasn’t pretty. And it hurt so much, he would often ask his mom to go get a knife from the kitchen and cut it off.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

9. But did he give up?

10. Not exactly. He instead worked his ass off and became a top track and field athlete and a high school football star who will be playing Division I college ball next year alongside his brother at UCF.

11. And last night during the International Bowl (a top-level high school football All-Star game), Griffin picked off a pass despite having only one hand.

Video available at: http://buzzfeed-video1.s3.amazonaws.com/video/2013/02/06/shaquem-624x338.mp4.

12. WHOA.

13. But yeah, you’re right. It does suck when one of your two hands is too big for the Pringles can.

Source: daves4

h/t: Barry Petchesky at Deadspin