Malcolm says, “It’s other people’s job to tell you no. It’s your job to not listen.”
I was never one to except limitations. Whether it was sports or just horsing around with my brother or friends, I never wanted to stop. I was always out there despite having a congenital heart defect. I was diagnosed with having Ventricular Septal Defects.
At age three I had open-heart surgery to close one of the two heart murmurs. Doctors hoped that in time my second would close on it’s own. Thankfully, it did. Growing up I wasn’t allowed to play sports until I got to high school and joined the wrestling team. My mother, who had Cerebral Palsy, never let my heart condition or her CP slow either of us down.
As I got older and stronger and moved from high school to college, I joined theatre and choir. I also took up parkour and free running as well as stunts. I was fortunate enough to utilize these skills as a performer and stunt performer in many ways. I am thrilled I can do what I love and travel knowing that at one time my doctors said I would live a dependent life. But as my mom famously says, “when there’s a will, there’s a way.” I now make a living as an actor/singer/stunt performer, and I am not looking back.
It’s other people’s job to tell you no. It’s your job to not listen.
– Malcom Stokes