Five-year-old Ezra Frech received his first running prosthesis last year from prosthetist Ryan Russell, CP, at the Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics patient care facility in Encino, California. One month later, Ezra competed in his first Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) event. This year, the five-year-old participated in CAF’s San Diego Triathlon Challenge kid’s run, and “because of his commitment, dedication, and focus” while working to achieve an athletic goal, he earned the organization’s Rising Star Award.
Ezra was born with a congenital anomaly that resulted in the amputation of his left leg and the relocation of his toe to his hand to serve as a thumb, but despite physical hardships, he developed a passion for basketball as early as age one. His favorite professional sports team is the Los Angeles Lakers, and earlier this year Ezra appeared on Good Morning America with L.A. Laker Pau Gasol, according to a Hanger press release.
Ezra refers to his prosthesis as his “helper leg,” and has served as a spokesperson for the disabled community by teaching classes on how to embrace differences in classrooms full of students his own age and older.
