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]
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