1  

Alabama teen with "nubs" for legs is state high school wrestling champ By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff 03.03.16

Hasaan Hawthorne is a champion wrestler. He became a champion even though his legs end at his knees. Hawthorne is 18 and lives in Huntsville, Alabama, where he goes to high school. He was born without tibias. These large, lower leg bones allow humans to stand. When Hawthorne was just 4 months old, a doctor told his parents that they had to make a terrifying choice. They could let their son's useless legs and feet grow. However, he would have to use a wheelchair. Or, a doctor could amputate, or remove, his feet and legs at the knees. That way, Hawthorne might be able to wear prosthetics and walk on his own. Prosthetics are fake body parts.

  2  

Learning The Hard Way Hawthorne's parents decided to have both of their son's legs amputated. Hawthorne got his first prosthetic legs when he was 14 months old. A doctor told Demond and Felecia Hawthorne to let their son learn the hard way. Sometimes he tripped over rocks and fell at the park. Still, they did not pick him up. "We're like, 'Nope. Leave him alone. He knows how to get up,’” Felecia Hawthorne told the news website AL.com. In time, Hawthorne began to fall less. When he was two or three, Hawthorne ditched his walker. He started to walk around on his hands. He climbed out of his crib and began roughhousing with his father and babysitters. Wrestling With The Babysitter He loved to wrestle every weekend with his babysitter, Duke Frison. Hawthorne pretended that he was a colorful World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) character from television. He would climb to the top of his couch. In his mind it was the top rope of the wrestling ring. Then he launched himself down onto Frison. Sometimes Hawthorne hit his head or missed. Still, “he would start laughing and go right back to having fun,” said Frison. Hawthorne soon discovered he was crazy about sports. When he was 5, he convinced his parents to let him play baseball. By age 11, he had turned his disability upside down. "I Think It's Funner" "I think it's funner having prosthetics than real legs because you get to do more stuff," he told a reporter. "I don't like to see people sad, I like to cheer people up." Hawthorne said he was "just like other people, just with different legs." Still, he put up with some kids calling him nicknames like Robokid.

  3  

Others started rumors that he had lost his legs in a train accident. His parents wanted to teach him that life is not fair. They did not want Hawthorne to depend on them to "make the bad stuff go away," Demond said. Wrestling On His "Nubs" Hawthorne started wrestling seriously in sixth grade. "I said, 'Why can't I do it?'" Hawthorne told AL.com. "It just looked cool to me." Wrestling allowed Hawthorne to be truly himself. He did not wear prosthetics. He wrestled on his amputated legs. He calls them his “nubs.” Recently, Hawthorne took part in the Alabama state wresting championship. Hawthorne moved quickly on the mat during his matches. His yellow and green uniform was a blur. He has a wide back and huge arms. Hawthorne pinned one wrestler after another. Biggest Smile In The Room After the championship ended, he stood atop the winner's podium. Hawthorne had won all 37 of his matches during the season. He was a state champion. He stood on his nubs on the awards podium. His head was just below the wrestlers he beat. Yet, his smile was the biggest in the room. Hawthorne's WWE dreams are not over yet. He hopes to go to Nationals and continue to wrestle in college.