Charlie loves life! We adopted Charlie when he was 4 years old from China in 2016. Charlie was born without tibias (bone in lower leg), a radius in left arm, and he has bilateral hand deformity, but that has never slowed him down! We talked to multiple specialists before the adoption, and they all said he would need prosthetic legs. Charlie immediately took off on his walking legs and 6 months later moved to using running blades. He has not stopped moving since! Charlie has played baseball, basketball, flag football and soccer in our community sports league all the way through elementary school. Now as he is moving into middle school next year Charlie has decided to focus on golf. He has been participating in clinics and working on his game regularly. Most people at the golf club know Charlie and give him words of encouragement. Charlie loves to play tennis and pickleball with his family since his sisters play tennis. He is a joy to have around and always up for playing chess or board games, swimming, or throwing the football. His favorite team is Georgia and he displays his team on his prosthetic legs every time he needs a new set of legs.

This story was submitted by the child’s parent exclusively for use by Operation Dez Strong.