WOODHALL Hunter

Classification
T62 (IPC, 10 Apr 2020)

Type of Impairment
Limb deficiency (Athlete, 17 Jul 2017)

Origin of Impairment
Congenital (Athlete, 17 Jul 2017)

Impairment Details
He was born with a fused right ankle and fibular hemimelia in his left leg, which is a shortening or absence of the fibula bone. At age 11 months both of his legs were amputated below the knee. (shrinersinternational.org, 06 Jul 2012)

General
OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has served as an ambassador for Shriners Hospital for Children, a network of medical facilities across North America which provide specialised health care for children. "It's definitely a big part of my life. Especially growing up when I didn't really have anyone to look up to and I didn't really know anyone in my same situation. So if I can be that person for somebody else and I can make their situation a little easier then that's all that matters to me." (Facebook page, 14 Mar 2020; teamusa.org, 2016; Destiny Washington YouTube channel, 29 Jan 2018)

YOUTUBE CHANNEL
He shares a YouTube channel with his girlfriend Tara Davis, who has competed in athletics for the University of Texas. "The way me and Tara met was through track and field, we met at a track meet. It's the biggest thing in both of our lives, so it's somewhere where we can really connect. The YouTube videos are a place where we can express ourselves and have fun and do whatever we want. A lot of times the videos are based around track, which is something we love because it's obviously a big part of our life and it's fun to share that with others. One of my biggest hobbies is filming and video creation, so that's given me a way to do that. It's given me freedom to get into new cameras and learn more about editing." (milesplit.com, 03 Apr 2019)

EARLY STRUGGLES
He says he has experienced negative comments through his career. "A lot of them didn't take place in the sports world. A lot of them were in school. I was home schooled until I was in fifth grade. In sixth grade, I went through a lot of bullying in school. In seventh grade, I moved schools and managed to make friends who were very instrumental in my life and helped me build my self confidence. Most of the time, I would be able to build close relationships with people on my teams. I've also had some hazing incidents with people, coaches or spectators from other teams being very vocal [negatively] about what I'm doing." (milesplit.com, 03 Apr 2019)