Born Without Legs - Now I'm A Professional Wrestler | BORN DIFFERENT
THIS DETERMINED 22-year-old is continuing to make his mark in the world – despite living with no legs. Zion Clark was born with caudal regression syndrome, a rare disorder that impairs the development of the lower spine. In Zion’s case, he was born missing both of his legs. Residing in Ohio, Zion says that one in every 100,000 children are born with the congenital condition each year – and due to his unfortunate circumstances, Zion ended up in foster care for the first 16 years of his life. Fostered by his now-mother Kimberlli, Zion now has a fantastic support system and has continued to find his strength and passion in the form of WRESTLING. The talented and keen sportsman is bidding to become one of the best freestyle wrestlers in the world.
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:02 Being born without legs hadn't stopped me from doing the things that I want to do.
00:05 >> People would just, they'd make fun of me cuz I didn't have legs.
00:08 >> The best way to deal with haters is to use the hate to lift yourself up.
00:12 Haters are your biggest fans, so use that to your advantage.
00:15 [MUSIC]
00:24 >> My name is Zion Clark.
00:25 I was born with a rare condition that caused me not to have legs.
00:28 I was born with caudal regression syndrome.
00:31 It is a very rare disease.
00:32 One out of every 100,000 kids are born with it each year.
00:35 Caudal regression syndrome is a rare disease that can cause
00:39 a number of abnormalities in a baby.
00:42 It can be you have a poor skin or spine missing, or in my case,
00:46 I was born without legs.
00:48 I lived most of my life through foster care up to about 16.
00:51 >> He came into my life when the case workers had reached out to me and
00:56 said that they needed a placement for a young fellow.
00:59 They bring Zion to my home some weeks later.
01:03 Then it came to a point to where I just knew he was mine and
01:06 I just was so in love with him.
01:08 And I approached him one day on the couch and I said, Zion,
01:13 I know that I'm not your biological mother.
01:16 And I asked him if I could get to be his mom.
01:20 He said, yes, I want you to be my mom.
01:24 I was like, well, let's do this, let's do it.
01:26 [MUSIC]
01:29 >> The relationship with my mom is fantastic.
01:33 She is the greatest woman I know.
01:34 And she wants what's best for me, she wants what's best for me and my sisters.
01:40 She never once was gonna give up on me.
01:43 >> I mean, I was a troubled kid during school.
01:47 So I mean, anything, any little thing would make me mad.
01:50 I just got in trouble for punching lockers or just back talking to teachers.
01:55 Well, people just, they'd make fun of me cuz I didn't have legs.
02:00 They'd think I couldn't do something or
02:02 they'd be talking to me saying I wouldn't do something.
02:05 And in turn, I'd do it and get in trouble.
02:07 But then after a while, I just got tired of it.
02:10 So I stopped reacting and I just let them talk.
02:14 And eventually they started leaving me alone.
02:16 [MUSIC]
02:18 >> School wasn't the greatest time for me.
02:20 But by the time I was a senior, I was able to turn it around and
02:24 get to college and start doing everything I wanted to do.
02:27 >> I started wrestling in second grade.
02:29 I could just go wrestle for a couple more hours, waste all my energy, and
02:33 go home and just go to sleep.
02:34 When I was really little, the first few matches, I didn't know what to do and
02:39 neither did my opponent.
02:41 Kids, some kids were scared to wrestle me.
02:43 I was scared to wrestle them.
02:44 I didn't know what I was doing.
02:46 I adapted my wrestling by a lot of trial and error.
02:51 I spent years figuring out what would work, what didn't work.
02:55 And there's a lot of things that don't work.
02:57 But the things that do work, drill them over and over and
03:00 over again until they're completely flawless.
03:02 Until somebody might know I'm doing it, but I'm gonna do it anyway,
03:06 whether they want me to or not.
03:07 [MUSIC]
03:13 I am feeling great about a match.
03:14 I train about twice a day, every single day, about six days a week.
03:18 And it's an everyday thing.
03:20 It's a grind.
03:21 It's a lifestyle.
03:22 >> Zion was a very special athlete because he had perseverance and
03:26 his determination was second to none.
03:28 It was very easy for me to coach him with qualities like that.
03:32 Very good takedown.
03:33 Let's go, let's go, let's go.
03:34 Let's get the breakdown.
03:36 He has no legs, so he doesn't have any power for the bottom half of his body,
03:40 which puts him at a great disadvantage for wrestling.
03:43 I noticed that because of his willingness to do the things that he needs to do to
03:47 win, that I knew that we could come up with something to make him successful.
03:52 >> How proud am I, Zion?
03:54 Give me a Z, Z, you got your Z, you got your Z.
03:57 I am proud.
03:59 I'm his number one cheerleader.
04:01 I told you, I am the executive director of his fan club.
04:06 I am very proud of him.
04:09 How at first he was just so angry, but how he learned is each time to
04:15 wrap that anger and to make it into something positive.
04:19 >> Being born without legs hasn't stopped me from doing the things that I wanna do.
04:23 The best way to deal with haters is to use the hate to lift yourself up.
04:28 Haters are your biggest fans, so use that to your advantage.
04:31 My dreams and ambitions, one day to make the Olympic team be one of the best
04:37 freestyle wrestlers in the world.
04:38 I wanna be able to go back home, tell my mom, mom, number one,
04:42 there's nobody better.
04:43 I'm gonna try to keep getting better from there.
04:46 I just wanna be the best.
04:47 The biggest lesson I've had to learn is that things will not always go your way,
04:51 but you have to work with what you got.
04:53 And once you're able to work with what you have, multiple doors will start to open.
04:57 [MUSIC]
05:00 [MUSIC]