9-Year-Old Amputee Earns Black Belt in Taekwondo: 'It Was Very Rewarding'
He's been participating in the sport for nearly three years.
A 9-year-old boy reached a martial arts milestone, rising to the rank of black belt, despite having one leg.
Toby King, who was born with a bone deformity, had his leg amputated at just 10 months old. Three months later, he was fitted with his first prosthesis.
Read: Tiny Taekwondo Fighter is Determined to Break Block in Adorable Video
After beginning taekwondo classes nearly three years ago, Toby achieved a black belt last month.
“It was very rewarding because it was something that we never dreamed would happen,” Kaley King, Toby's mom, told InsideEdition.com. “We always wanted to treat him no different than any other kid, but knew he had challenges and obstacles to come.”
Toby, however, never let his condition stop him. When he started taekwondo, King said Toby was determined to achieve its highest distinction.
He’d first become excited about the idea when he saw a friend doing taekwondo at a birthday party so King put him in a trial class for two weeks and the 9-year-old stuck with it.
“He knew from day one he was going to make it to black belt,” King said. “Throughout all the ups and downs, we kept our eye on the goal.”
Toby attends taekwondo twice weekly.
King said that she and Toby's father, Ron, haven't ever make his condition an issue throughout his life, but have always taught that he could do anything he sought to accomplish.
“We never told him he couldn’t do something," King said. "We just had to figure out a different way to do something, that’s all, but that everything can be done."
King said she couldn’t be more proud of her son, not just for his accomplishments in taekwondo, but in life.
"When a lot of doctors said he may or may not be able to fully function as a child growing up, to see him overcome to do all sorts of things, more specifically, to stick with the perseverance to do [taekwondo], even though he had difficulty doing it, him not giving up through the whole process, it was great. It still is,” King added.
Watch: 5-Year-Old Girl Is Thrilled to Receive a Prosthetic Hand From Library
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