Patrick Jackson-Williams is comfortable in his own skin.
"I don’t focus what you call a disability," he likes to say. "I focus on the ability in the disability."
Words of true wisdom from Patrick, who is a remarkable young man.
Now a high school sophomore, he was born two months premature, weighing just two-and-a-half pounds.
And the diagnosis?
“It’s cerebral palsy - mild CP," Patrick said. "So it means that my muscles, something that I want them to do they don’t do. But actually, it wound up in my favor because it teaches me how to become a stronger person.”
A young life that is full of great challenge.
Twelve hospitals stays and five surgeries before he was a year old, and many more since then.
But his focus is not on himself, but on others.
At just 16 years old, Patrick is an ordained minister and part of a group called Angels On Assignment.
“Helping others is helping them become a greater person," Patrick said. "You’re helping somebody. You’re helping their destiny. You’re helping them achieve something great."
This year he’s is giving back to two organizations that have helped him, Shriners and St. Joseph’s Hospital.
And he’s doing with help of Eduardo the Elephant.
For a donation of $20 or more, hospitalized children will be given their own Eduardo.
Patrick’s mom, Patricia, is understandably proud of her son, and she recalled an amazing occurrence when he first arrived.
“The doctor said to me that Patrick would sing himself to sleep,” she said. “They said they could actually hear him humming in the incubator.”
Doing it his way from day one.
“I’m not a person with disabilities, but a person with different abilities,” Jackson-Williams said.
For more information on how to purchase a stuffed animal for a hospitalized child, call 813-379-0522 or 813-748-4704