Wayne Washington
An Inspiration in Sports, Medicine, and Life
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Wayne Washington was told by physicians that he should never lift weights, Today, at 4'11" and 112 pounds, out of his wheelchair, Mr. Washington can do what none of his physicians, nor most of the world, can do - bench press 295 pounds of iron. Wayne Washington was born with osteogenesis imperfecta which is a condition of abnormally brittle bones caused by a familial (inherited) congenital defective development of the connective tissue that forms the basic material of the bone. Washington, now 43 years old, endured a very trying childhood where he incurred 36 bone fractures and 21 surgeries as a result of his disease. "I started breaking bones at age one," says Washington. "I was a very active child and my bones were brittle like charcoal. I was always running around and climbing tables and falling down fracturing my bones. My parents felt they couldn't take care of me so I ended up living my childhood in hospitals and foster homes." Although modern medicine has made great strides in helping to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities such as Washington's during the 1950's and 1960's, society and the medical community looked at persons with such abnormal conditions differently. Standard protocol then called for admittance of the patient to an institution that provided isolation from the outside world. For the first 16 years of his life, Washington was raised at St. Agnes which had a convalescent home run by nuns. When this facility was scheduled to be shut down, the decision was made to move the teenager to a foster home and attend a special disabilities school. It was at this school where young Washington was, for the first time encouraged to become active |
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