While many teenagers are participating in sports or are walking around various malls, Don Goodridge, 17, has never been able to walk, run or even stand upright without assistance. He’s been afflicted with cerebral palsy — a brain disorder which affects mobility — since he was born.

The causes of cerebral palsy are uncertain, but it occurs before or during birth and even in infancy. Goodridge said he was born prematurely at seven months, and at that time, he was able to fit in the palm of one of his mom’s hands.

“She told me I was like a rat, but I tell her not to call me that,” he said with a laugh. Looking at young people who are not disabled, he sometimes wants to be like them, but he’s always reminded of his difference by the crutches he uses.

So it came as a surprise that this amiable young man has been travelling alone from Curepe to San Fernando for almost two years.

Apart from his legs, he does not look different. However, as his upper body grows, his legs do not. Therefore, he relies more heavily on the crutches for support.

He attends the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities, where he is pursuing Office Administration. Goodridge has a positive attitude and has stopped complaining about people who are unkind. His main support is his mom, the person he said has given him the passion to go on in the face of other family members who laugh at him.

“I learn now it makes no sense to complain,” he said. “I want to show my family that I can reach somewhere.”

Before he travelled alone, his single mom hired drivers for him, a task he said was challenging. He explained that when some of the drivers saw them, they scorned him.

However, he said, things have been a little easier as the drivers have become accustomed to him. It was not an easy road for Goodridge, who has undergone three surgeries to relax the muscles in his legs.

Since he is still unable to walk, he said, it “is better to take no more surgeries ’cause is pain in vain.”

Determined to succeed, Goodridge is holding on to the dream of becoming a lawyer or an accountant, or as he says,

“Any good job, yes!”

He has been doing well in his subjects, which include typing, and plans to sit the National Examination Council Craft Certificate examinations this month.

The Centre, headed by Beverly Beckles, will mark 45 years in existence this December. Beckles said the school has 173 students, but some of them are at another building.

The Centre has four areas of operations, which include Vocational Rehabilitation and Skills Training, Light Manufacturing, Community Outreach and Consultative Services. The graduates are channeled into an apprenticeship programme, which allows them to gain work experience.

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