Gabriel Adams is a man of extraordinary fortitude and courage. Born with Hanhart Syndrome, he was abandoned at birth after his parents realized he had no arms or legs. But that wasn’t the end of Gabe’s remarkable story. After he was adopted by his adoptive parents, Janelle and Ron Adams, this extraordinary man set about mastering many of life’s daily tasks — something he continues to do by adopting a simple daily mantra, pasted across his Instagram bio: “Pray, Slay, Replay.”
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“We had our concerns, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the sweet little boy so far away without arms, legs or a family,” mom Janelle told “Today” of the family’s decision to adopt Gabe just after he was born.
Since then, he has faced many challenges as a result of being without the limbs most of us take for granted. However, not all his hardships have been physical. At school, Gabe revealed that he faced relentless bullying.
“People comment and stare daily, everywhere I go,” he explained in a new video with Born Different. “Bullying is still an issue.”
However, instead of succumbing to the intimidation and name-calling, Gabe turned to an unexpected passion for comfort and courage: dancing.
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“I first started dancing when I was in the seventh grade,” he said. “I told myself that I wanted to try out for the talent show. I didn’t tell anyone that I was trying out because I wanted it to be a surprise. ”
Adams went on to perform his near-impossible dance routine before his classmates at high school.
“I got a standing ovation,” he added. In an instant, all of his critics were silenced. “It was a huge eye-opening moment that this was something I could do, I wanted to do, and if I just pushed myself I could do it,” he added.
Gabe, now 20 years old, revealed that he is now “doing benefit concerts and helping raise money for people with sicknesses.” He has also traveled across the country giving inspirational talks.
https://twitter.com/no_limbs/status/871950730663403525
Staggeringly, despite many years of frustration as he learned to complete basic daily without the aid of his arms and legs, Adams noted that, whenever he is asked if he “wishes he had limbs,” his answer is a straight “no.”
“My life isn’t hard,” he said. “Life is only hard if you make it hard. If I make it hard, then that’s on me. I like my body the way it is.”
“I’m just like everybody else, I’m bound to have my down days,” Adams admitted, “but when it does happen, there’s always a voice in my head saying ‘give up’ and I have to fight that voice all the time.”
https://twitter.com/no_limbs/status/1043042055558025218
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At the end of the day, he concluded, life is about “living for other people.”