When we ‘lock on to a goal’ - something we really care about - we have the opportunity to create magic! We develop a focus. We concentrate our energies. We channel our efforts. And if we have persistence, nothing can stop us. Grit, overcoming adversity and never giving up. This is what determination is all about.
With this in mind, I’d like to share the story of a young man named Hansel Enmanuel Donato Domínguez. Perhaps you’ve heard of him and his incredible exploits, or perhaps you haven’t heard of him at all. But either way, his story is one worth sharing. Born in the Dominican Republic, Hansel, when he was 6 years old, was involved in a terrible accident. When playing with some neighborhood friends, a wall fell on him. He was left trapped for over two hours until emergency crews were able to get the wall off from him. When he was taken to the local hospital, doctors determined that Hansel would have to have his arm amputated. Prior to the accident, his father, who had been a professional basketball player, had gotten his son involved in sports from a young age. However, the accident left Hansel having to relearn everything - from tying his shoes to eating, to even drinking a glass of water. As he would recall years later, “I didn’t want to do anything.” Yet, through the encouragement of his parents, he got back on his feet and started to learn how to balance himself without his missing limb. As his balance returned, so too did his passion for sport.
With baseball, a national pastime in the Dominican Republic, likely out of the picture, he chose instead to focus on basketball. He would spend countless hours practicing one handed dribbling and one-handed shots and mastering his footwork. And as he practiced, he also grew to a whopping 6ft 4in. His talents evolved to such an extent that his high-flying, one-handed dunks began regularly featuring on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays, and he started to capture the attention of some of the top high school basketball recruits in the United States, eventually landing a scholarship with Life Christian Academy in Kissimmee, Florida. In his first season, he was his team’s highest scorer with an average of 26 pts per game, helped them win a state championship, and received three Division-1 basketball offers. And, with Hall of Fame basketball star Shaquille O’Neal even recently saying, "I wish people understood how different Hansel Enmanuel is. He outplayed some of the best high school players with one arm this season." Just this past week, he committed to one of those offers and will be playing Division-1 basketball next season.
If you haven’t seen any of Domínguez’s highlights, I recommend you check them out. Even if you aren’t the biggest basketball aficionado, when you watch what this young man is capable of, especially through all the adversity he’s faced, it’s striking. His story demonstrates just what an individual can accomplish with a little perseverance and determination, and in Hansel’s case, with just one arm. And as he put it, “I don’t want people to look at me as a kid with a disability. I hope that they only see me as a great player who will go as far as I possibly can.”
Obviously, there is a big lesson here. No matter what we aspire to in life, there will be roadblocks, setbacks, and adversity. All each of us can do is remain determined, and this starts by trusting and believing in ourselves to the extent that each hurdle thrown our way simply makes us more resolute, and ultimately, the best version of ourselves we can be, just like Domínguez.
