Who Says I Can't
The Astonishing Story of a Fearless Life
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- 12,99 €
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- 12,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
On paper, Coach Rob Mendez sounds like any other football coach on any other field across America: passionate, authoritative, knowledgeable. But he’s unlike any other coach you know--in fact, he’s probably unlike any other person you know.
Born with an extraordinarily rare condition called tetra-Amelia syndrome, Rob has no arms or legs. He moves with the assistance of a custom-made, motorized wheelchair that he operates with his back and shoulders.
Many people look at Rob and see limitation, yet Rob sees opportunity: Opportunity to pursue his passion for football. Opportunity to change the way people perceive physical disability. Opportunity to serve as a role model for the hundreds of kids he’s coached over the years.
Told with both humor and frankness, Who Says I Can’t? takes readers on Rob’s incredible journey, from his birth to loving parents who wanted to afford him every chance for happiness, to the emotional and physical hurdles he faced while seeking independence, to receiving the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPY Awards in 2019.
Each day, Coach Rob rolls onto the field and shows his players that dreams are achievable when you show up, do the work, and believe in yourself. And after reading this book you, too, will believe that anything is possible.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this immensely spirited debut, Mendez, winner of the ESPYs' Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, reflects on achieving his life's dream of being a successful high school football coach in spite of the odds against him. Born with an extremely rare condition called tetra-Amelia syndrome, Mendez has lived his entire life without arms or legs. "There is a truth and an irony to my life that is irrefutable," he writes. "I cannot play sports, yet sports are one of my greatest passions." From the time he learned he could play football video games with the controller placed under his chin, Mendez wanted a career in sports. After working on broadcasts of football games in middle school, he started calling plays for his California high school team, and, shortly after graduating, became an assistant coach. Most impressive are his accounts of the ruthless grind of coaching JV players at high schools around the Bay Area while also maintaining his grueling daily schedule of physical therapy. Even as ESPN and other media began to take an interest in Mendez's life, he emphasizes that, though his circumstances were extraordinary, he's more than just "a limbless man who also happen to be a football coach." Readers will be riveted by this inspiring story.
