NASCAR's top racing company, Hendrick Motorsports, gave engineer Richie Parker a shot with a 10-week internship, mostly because of his can-do attitude. Born without arms, Parker was so good at his job that he was hired and has been an integral part of the NASCAR team for more than eight years.
Chess is not easy, but almost anyone can benefit from the complex game because it teaches strategy, confidence, and also how to accept failure. So says Orrin Hudson, a 50-year-old Stone Mountain chess champion who has devoted his life -- and life savings -- to teaching the ancient game to modern kids to instill in them a never-say-die attitude.
As he inched through the churning, chest-deep water, Jay Price struggled to distinguish one potential catastrophe from the next as he and his comrades from the Manasquan Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 kept pushing forward, chest deep in the rushing water, to reach another stranded person in their homes and rescue them to the safety of their M35 Army cargo truck, one by one through the chaotic night.
A French swimmer who lacks legs and arms has successfully swum the frigid waters separating Alaska and Russia with the aid of paddle-like prosthetics. Seeking to raise awareness of the abilities of handicapped people, Philippe Croizon, whose limbs were amputated after an accident at age 26, completed his dream of swimming between five continents.
31-year-old Spencer West recently climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. That's an accomplishment for anyone, but when you see Spencer West, you wonder how it could have been possible. This climber has no legs. My family and I were told by doctors that I would never sit up by myself, never walk by myself, and I probably wouldn't be a functioning member of society.
A young man with Down's Syndrome has earned a black belt in karate, inspired by Bruce Lee movies he studied as a child. Dustin Bean of Longview, Washington worked for 13 years, quickly moving from a special abilities class to regular classes to earn the coveted black belt. His mom said her son has high expectations for himself. He doesn't think he can't do something... He can do anything.
A young freshman college baseball player was facing a life of declining health until his coach stepped up to the plate and donated a kidney.
More than 60 million viewers have made this little girl a basketball star, even though Jaliya Manuel is just six years old.
Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins brought a local family to tears when he surprised them with a new car.
Real-life superheroes come in all shapes in sizes – like a child's dad paying attention at a baseball game.
A small sweat sensor can instantly detect and diagnose dehydration, muscle fatigue, stress and other conditions that once took hours of blood work in a lab.
Who is the Greatest Canadian? After being hospitalized at the age of 10 and threatened with the loss of his leg due to his family's inability to pay for specialized care, Tommy Douglas followed a life path into politics and refined his skills as a fiery speaker.
A marine who gallantly dropped back in a race to help a nine-year-old boy finish has become an internet sensation. The boy reportedly got separated from his group and asked 19-year-old Lance Corporal Myles Kerr: 'Sir, will you please run with me?'
When two teammates on the Washington Spirit women's pro soccer team, learned where they would live this summer, they thought someone was playing a prank. The one-time Olympic medalists were placed in a retirement community. But it grew on them quickly and surpassed their expectations.
A man named Tom Morgan is making some of the most expensive and sought-after fly fishing rods in the world, which he does despite having been paralyzed from the neck down for the past 17 years. He's revered for what he calls thought rods, where the instrument functions as an extension of the mind, delivering the fly where you imagine it will go, not where a series of clumsy physical muscle movements try to direct it.
A cross-country runner in North Dakota carried an injured competitor across the finish line during a high school track meet, a show of compassion that stood out as other teens kept running.
Miami Heat basketball star, Dwyane Wade, who is the leading NBA scorer, heard the plight of a South Florida woman whose nephew accidentally burned down her home—and ruined all the family's possessions... So he helped the family move into a new home, just in time for Christmas, giving Dawn Smith the keys to a new house on Wednesday,
Less than one year after being blinded by an explosion in Afghanistan, U.S. swimmer Bradley Snyder has won a gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle at the 2012 Paralympics. His fast time would have put Snyder in first place in one of the early men's 100m freestyle heats at the London Olympics.
Both NFL football teams in Missouri swooped into Joplin last week, lifting spirits and clearing clogged yards and roads. The Kansas City Chiefs had invited fans to donate supplies and water and cash, and the club was stunned at the outpouring it saw from the community, loading six semis of water (187,490 bottles, by their count) and relief supplies, along with $35,000 from the club and $21,000 of private donations.
Rookie pitcher Brandon Finnegan of the Kansas City Royals makes a fan's day by giving him tickets to a postseason game, just because he asked.
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