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A Special Olympics volunteer signs “The Star-Spangled Banner” to members of the Nebraska Deaf Gymnastics Team. The Special Olympics gymnastics event is sponsored by the Munroe-Meyer Institute. |
Ready to run, jump on the springboard and make a perfect landing on the soft mat at the Special Olympics gymnastics event held recently at Cahoy’s Gym in Ralston.
Upon completion of his two turns, the fourth grader at Western Hills Magnet Center beamed at his parents, oblivious to the point total behind him.
His dad, Joe, who works for UNMC Physicians Turner Park Clinic, snapped a picture. His mother, Mary McHale, flashed him a thumbs-up sign.
This was Daniel’s third year participating in Special Olympics gymnastics, an event sponsored by the Munroe-Meyer Institute. Organizers presented MMI with a plaque for its generous support of the 2008 Summer Games.
Parents in attendance were grateful for the chance for their children to participate in the athletic activity.
“He loves gymnastics,” said McHale, a board member on the C. Louis Meyer Foundation, as Daniel maneuvered himself on the pommel horse. “Three years ago, he wouldn’t have had the upper body strength, or the confidence for that matter, to do that.”
Daniel, who has Down syndrome and a hearing impairment, has attended Camp Munroe and the Scottish Rite speech and language disorders clinic at MMI. He is on the Nebraska Deaf Gymnastics Team.
“Gymnastics gives children with disabilities the right to shine,” McHale said. “They may do it at their own speed and on their own time, but it’s just as meaningful, not only for them, but also for the families.”
Next year, Daniel may participate in the Special Olympics swimming event, McHale said, but today he can’t wait to go back to school … to show off his five gymnastics medals to his classmates.