Shortly after Blake Leeper was born, his legs were amputated and doctors said he’d never walk. 24 years later he’s working toward becoming the first disabled American to compete in the Olympic Games.
Leeper was a guest on The Arsenio Hall Show this week to tell his inspirational story.
“When I was a kid and we’d be out in the driveway playing, we’d always pretend to be stars… I liked Dr. J… who was your hero?” Hall asked right off the bat.
“My guy growing up…was Bo Jackson,” Leeper responded emphatically. “I was a huge Bo fan before his injury. And I watched everything he did. Then he got hurt in his football accident. He came back with a prosthetic hip and was able to battle back his whole life and come back and compete. So as a child, seeing him with a prosthetic hip, even though I had prosthetic legs, I just heard prosthetics and I was really excited and I related… So everywhere I would go, I was like, ‘Call me Bo.'”
Leeper went on to explain that he was inspired to be a professional runner the first time he ever saw the Paralympic Games on television in 2008.
“I’d never run a day in my life,” he said. “Me having no legs wanting to be a professional runner sounds kind of crazy to some people, but I knew it in my heart that I truly wanted it. I heard a lot of ‘noes,’ but you know in life you only need to hear one ‘yes’ and everything else falls into place.”
As the crowd cheered, Leeper soaked it all in.
Then Arsenio asked the crowd if they wanted to see the actual racing “blades,” or prosthetics that Leeper uses when he runs. The crowd clapped in approval.
Then a man appeared from behind the curtain and it took a moment for Leeper to realize who it was.
“Ladies and gentlemen: legend — Bo Jackson!” the show’s host exclaimed. Leeper was stunned.
“Will you tell him what he actually means to you?” Arsenio asked Leeper.
“This is the first time I’ve been actually able to say this,” Leeper began. “20 years ago, the day that I met you, was truly amazing for me. I want to say thank you for never giving up on your career. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here today. You inspired me to be who I am today. You inspired me to go out there and show the world, regardless of who you are, regardless if you have a disability — it doesn’t matter — as long as you battle back and you give it your 120 percent, you can overcome any challenge. I think you for that, Bo.”
“People always say, ‘I wish you hadn’t got hurt, you could have done this and you could have did this,’ it’s not about that,” Jackson replied. “…God puts speed bumps in everybody’s roads of life, and it’s up to us to slow down, get over that speed bump and move on down the road. My youngest son is his age, so it’s almost like me sitting here and watching my own son. I am just that proud of him.”
This wasn’t Jackson’s first appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show. Check him out below in the midst of “Bo Knows” hysteria in 1989. His best line comes at the 7:50 mark. “The only people that get high places by running their mouths is politicians,” Bo quips. “There’s no room in this game for politics.”
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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