A teenage boy with cerebral palsy has inspired millions across social media after breaking his personal record for deadlifting in his first-ever powerlifting competition, causing the gym to erupt into cheers. Fourteen-year-old Mason Braatz, from West Bend, Wisconsin, lifted 235 pounds in the uplifting video, which has been viewed more than six million times on TikTok. At the meet at Ford's Gym, in Madison, Wisconsin, Mason first lifted 205 pounds and then 220. For his final lift, Mason suggested 235 pounds – a weight he had never lifted but his coach thought he could achieve because of the adrenaline of the moment. Mason, who only weighs 121 pounds himself, showed strain on his face as he took the bar off the ground, and then, with the support of the crowd, reached the top of his lift after a few long seconds of trying. The moment took place on March 26, and after posting the video on his social media pages, Mason and his family were blown away by the response.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 - Go Mason!
00:01 - Go Mason!
00:01 - Go Mason!
00:02 - Mason's determination truly began
00:23 the minute he entered this world.
00:25 He had a pretty scary, challenging birth
00:28 where he was deprived of oxygen
00:30 and entered the world not breathing.
00:33 So my husband and I even chose the name Mason
00:36 in those first moments
00:37 because we knew he needed to be strong
00:40 and has continued to live up to that name
00:43 since the moment his life began.
00:45 However, because Mason had a challenging birth,
00:49 he had damage done to the nervous system of his brain,
00:52 resulting in him having cerebral palsy.
00:54 And what that does is it interferes with the signals
00:57 your brain sends to your muscles for them
01:00 and how they work.
01:01 And so for Mason, that affects his whole body.
01:04 He is affected in all four limbs and his speech.
01:08 Early in his life,
01:18 we decided that Jason and I, my husband and I,
01:22 were never going to be the ones who set limits
01:25 on Mason's ability.
01:28 We weren't going to set a ceiling
01:29 for what he was going to accomplish in his life.
01:31 (upbeat music)
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02:10 (upbeat music)
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02:26 (upbeat music)
02:33 (crowd cheering)
02:38 (upbeat music)
02:41 - You yourself kind of know your own body
02:54 and know your own limitations.
02:56 So I feel like anyone with any sort of disorder,
03:01 disability or whatever it is,
03:03 their parents should not be the ones
03:06 that set the limitations on what you can do in this life.
03:11 'Cause if you put your mind and your heart
03:15 and the effort towards what you want to do
03:19 and what you want to be,
03:20 you're going to be successful regardless
03:23 if you have cerebral palsy, autism,
03:27 or whatever you have.
03:29 So you yourself know what you're capable of
03:35 and no other person should be the one telling you
03:39 that you can't do something.
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