ROWDY BURTON: Does not having legs make something more difficult? I can’t really answer that
because I cannot compare that to having legs. I was born this way.
ROWDY BURTON: There hasn’t been anything that I just really, really wanted to do that I felt like I couldn’t do.
ROWDY BURTON: Except one other thing. I did kind of want to be an astronaut, still do.
Still want to go into space before I die. So, you know, but they are pretty strict about
that, peak physical condition, you know. They will send a monkey up there with no training
but I got to get through a bunch of bullcrap.
ROWDY BURTON: My name is Rowdy Burton. I was born with Sacral Agenesis.
That’s the medical term for it, I guess.
ROWDY BURTON: It’s a lower spinal disorder, extremely rare condition. One in 20,000 I
believe is what I read on the internet.
ROWDY BURTON: I honestly didn’t even learn much about it until I became an adult.
You know, I was always just classed myself as a guy with no legs.
ROWDY BURTON: I don’t really like to cook that much. It’s not difficult, it’s just I am lazy.
ROWDY BURTON: I got my legs amputated basically because if I had continued to grow and let
them develop, I would have just had, you know, dead weights to carry around.
ROWDY BURTON: All 12 are intact.
ROWDY BURTON: And since they didn’t bend right either, it also would have been difficult
to use a wheelchair or crutches or anything. Balancing on my ribs, kind of, I don’t know,
I don’t know if it sounds weird but it’s super comfortable for me, more comfortable
than sitting down usually.
ROWDY BURTON: I am wearing a jacket like this, a lot of people will assume like, my body
just cuts off like right here. But the thing is I do have a complete lower half.
ROWDY BURTON: The reason why it’s so tiny is because when I got my legs amputated I
was only 3 years old.
ROWDY BURTON: They put pins in the bones and that were the bones that would never grow.
So, basically, I got like half a pelvis and thigh bones that would be equivalent to like
a 3-year-old's size thighbones.
ROWDY BURTON: They also wanted me to keep my nubs because they help with balance. Like,
if I am just standing around here and I am just getting tired of standing, I can just
kind of lean on my nubs a little bit.
ROWDY BURTON: The main thing that affects me is probably my elbows. Growing up this
was always my balance hand. I would always balance on this hand.
ROWDY BURTON: And then do whatever with this hand. You know if I am reaching for something
or whatever and you can kind of see the difference.
ROWDY BURTON: This elbow, this is straight out. If I do hurt my elbow or my wrist, it
does kind of suck. You know getting around with one arm.
ROWDY BURTON: When I was, when I was growing up I did use a wheelchair all the time, you
know, mainly because I had to carry a book bag around and you know, like that sort of thing.
ROWDY BURTON: But if I am just doing something simple, like if I am just going to a gas station,
for example, I mean, that would be a real pain in the ass to drag the chair out of the
car and put it back in. You know if I am willing to walk 20 feet, I would just walk on my hands
instead. And I, you know, sometimes I use a skateboard.
ROWDY BURTON: You get a lot more momentum.
ROWDY BURTON: I like it because, well, you have to go fast.
ROWDY BURTON: You know I can’t really run very fast, so, it’s pretty cool just to,
you know, pick-up speed.
ROWDY BURTON: I also play tennis with a group of people.
ROWDY BURTON: It’s like, adapted tennis. It is a lot of fun.
CHRISTY RUE: I first met Rowdy when I got involved in wheelchair tennis. He is very
laid back but very kind. He never, he never pities himself.
ROWDY BURTON: I was definitely bullied as a kid but once I got into high school, everyone
got a little bit of more mature. Most of the kids that were jerks enough to pick on the
guy with no legs, done dropped out by that point.
CHRISTY RUE: People are drawn to him. I remember before I met him, our mutual friend told me
he is one of those people that just everybody immediately loves and he is.
CHRISTY RUE: You meet him and he is just cool.
ARANTXIA WIJNGAARDE: I think first time I
saw him he was on a skateboard. I think that first encounter where he makes it comfortable
for you not to feel, you know, awkward.
ROWDY BURTON: A lot of my friends that I have known me for years, a lot of them have said
at one time or another like, they just forget I don’t have legs.
ROWDY BURTON: I have always tried to see the positive ends of every, you know, situation.
ROWDY BURTON: That’s not to say that I have never like, lost my cool or just been frustrated
or anything like that.
ROWDY BURTON: But there is always a silver lining.
ROWDY BURTON: There is always a bright side.