Being born without legs
hasn't stopped me
from doing the things that I want to do.
People just they'd make fun of me because I didn't have legs.
The best way to deal with haters
is to use the hate to lift yourself up.
Haters are your biggest fans, so
use that to your advantage.
My name is Zion Clark.
I was born with a rare condition
that caused me not to have legs.
I was born with
Caudal Regression Syndrome.
It is a very rare disease.
One out of every hundred thousand kids
are born with it each year.
Caudal Regression Syndrome is
a rare disease
that can cause
a number of abnormalities in a baby.
It can be you have a portion of your spine missing
or in my case,
I was born without legs.
I lived most of my life through foster care until about 16.
Kimberlli: He came into my life
when the caseworkers that reached out to me
and said that they needed a placement
for a young fellow.
They bring Zion to my home
some weeks later.
Then it came to a point
to where I just knew he was mine
and I just was so in love with him.
And I approached him one day
on the couch,
I said, "Zion,"
"I know that I'm not your biological mother."
And I asked him if I could get to be his mom?
He said, "Yes, I want you to be my mom."
I was like, "Well, let's do this."
"Let's do it."
Zion: The relationship with my mom is fantastic.
She is the greatest woman I know
and
she wants what's best for me.
She wants what's best for me and my sisters.
She never once
was going to give up on me.
I mean, I was a troubled kid during school.
So I mean,
anything, any little thing would make me mad.
I just got in trouble for punching lockers
or just back talking to teachers, you know?
Well, people just they'd make fun of me
because I didn't have legs.
Like they think I couldn't do something or
they'd be talking to me saying I wouldn't do something
in turn, I'd do it and get in trouble.
But then,
after a while, I just got tired of it.
So I would stop reacting
and I just let them talk.
And eventually they started to leave me alone.
School wasn't the greatest time for me.
But by the time I was a senior,
I was able to turn it around and
get to college and start doing everything I wanted to do.
I started wrestling in second grade,
I could just go wrestle for a couple of hours,
waste all my energy
and go home and just go to sleep.
When I was really little, the first few matches
I didn't know what to do, and neither did my opponent.
Some kids were scared to wrestle me.
I was scared to wrestle them. I didn't know what I was doing.
I adapted,
I adapted my wrestling
by a lot of trial and error.
I spent years figuring out
what would work,
what didn't work
and there's a lot of things that don't work.
But the things that do work,
drill them, over and over
and over again
until they're completely flawless
until somebody might know I'm doing it.
But I'm going to do it anyway,
whether they want me to or not.
I am feeling great about a match
I train about twice a day,
every single day, six days a week.
And it's an everyday thing.
It's a grind. It's a lifestyle.
Gil: Zion was a very special athlete because he had
perseverance and his determination was second to none.
It was very easy for me to coach him
with qualities like that.
Very good take-down.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Let's get the break down.
He has no legs so he doesn't have any power
for the bottom half of his body,
which puts him at a great disadvantage for wrestling.
I noticed that
because of his willingness to do the things
that he needs to do to win
that I knew that we could come up with something to make him successful.
Kimberlli: I'm proud of my Zion.
I'm his number one cheerleader.
I told you, I am the Executive Director of his fan club.
I am very proud of him
how at first he was just so angry.
But how he learned each time to wrap that anger
and to make it into something positive.
Zion: Being born without legs
hasn't stopped me from doing the things that I want to do.
The best way to deal with haters is
to use the hate to lift yourself up.
Your haters are your biggest fans so
use that to your advantage.
My dreams and ambitions.
one day to make the Olympic team.
Be one of the best freestyle wrestlers in the world.
I want to be able to go back home
tell my Mom like, "Mom, I'm number one."
There's nobody better.
I'm gonna try to keep getting better, from there.
I just want to be the best.
The biggest lesson I've had to learn
is that things will not always go your way but
you have to work with what you've got.
And once you once you're able to work with what you have
multiple doors just start to open.