Seven-year-old readies himself for future Paralympics

From a profile in The Daily Mail in the UK:

Thanks to his prosthetics, Cody McCasland, 7, takes part in activities with other children in his class and already beats some of them at running.

He is a member of his school swimming team, competing against able-bodied youngsters despite using just his arms.

His father, Mike McCasland, said: 'With the help of Challenged Athletes Foundation Cody will be able to travel to other areas and compete against others like himself at a higher level.

'Each year we take him to the Endeavour Games which is an international competition for children and adults with disabilities. He won gold medals in the 60m and 100m sprints this year and gained a fast enough time to enable him to compete in the National Junior Youth Disability Championships.'

Cody currently races against youngsters with just one artificial leg, but double amputees hope there will be a reclassification, allowing them to have their own category in the sport.

He ran 60m last year in 20.03 seconds, and 100m at 33.41 seconds, when he was just six years old. This means he was only five or six seconds behind
single amputee record-holders aged nine.

Cody's times at freestyle swimming and back stroke are already impressive at around 30 seconds and 43.63 seconds. He has knocked 30 seconds off his freestyle time since starting swimming last June and is now only a short way behind the nine-year-old record holder.

He has already met his sporting hero, triathlete Rudy Garcia-Tolson, a double amputee who has competed in two Paralympics by the age of just 20.

The courageous youngster, who wants to become a doctor when he is older, said: 'I'm a non-stop runner and no-one can keep up with me.

'I'd also love to swim in a race against Michael Phelps or Rudy Garcia-Tolson one day.'

Cody's amazing achievements as a double amputee are inspiring numerous others from disabled children, to soldiers who have lost limbs in Afghanistan or Iraq.

'We receive lots of requests from people wanting to meet Cody,' revealed Tina McCasland, Cody's mother. 'It really is incredible to see this little boy walking up to grown men and telling them they can do all the things he does.

'Soldiers are just like big heroes to Cody, so he is so excited to meet them. And in a way he's a little hero to them too.'

The young athlete has even inspired the creation of Team Cody, a group of fundraisers who compete in marathons, already raising $95,000 for the Texas
Scottish Rite Children's Hospital. Team Cody has also raised $4,000 for the Challenge Athletes Foundation, which helps disabled sports people.

'As long as Cody enjoys his sports, we'll go on supporting him,' said Mrs McCasland. 'We hope his story helps other kids and adults, and spreads the message that disabled people can do all these things.'