Reward Settlement

Kyle Maynard was born in Georgia, USA. The moment he entered the world, the nurses were terrified by this "freak" who lacked all four limbs! Doctors diagnosed him with Congenital Amputation.

When he was five years old, young Maynard started school. His peers viewed him as a "monster" and kept their distance. From then on, his world was devoid of laughter and filled with gray haze. His mother saw this and felt the pain in her heart, telling him stories of Stephen Hawking, Helen Keller, and others who remained strong despite their disabilities, over and over again. Under the love and comfort of his family, Maynard gradually became cheerful. He posted Helen Keller's quote, "Self-forgetfulness is happiness," at the head of his bed, shouting it ten times into the mirror every morning and night. He no longer worried about not having hands or feet, choosing instead to calmly accept this unchangeable fact.

In his teens, Maynard challenged his fate: I cannot be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life! Thus, he began practicing how to walk, leaning against a stool and trying to stand on his residual limbs. The intense pain made him unable to hold his weight, and he would collapse onto the floor with a thud, unable to catch his breath for a long time. Unwilling to give up, he struggled to crawl back up, stood, fell again, and crawled back up... Just like that, time and time again, he tried without fear. When his residual limbs chafed and bled, he wrapped them in bandages, only for the blood to stain them bright red again. Seven months later, amidst the trembling of pain, Maynard finally stood up! Like a clumsy penguin, he struggled to shuffle the distance of two rooms! A year later, he was able to drive himself to a Chinese clinic to receive acupuncture and massage therapy. Not only that, but to prove he was no different from a normal person, he even raised two Australian kangaroos on a farm in Tennessee. He also traveled between states to give speeches, encouraging those suffering from misfortune.

Suddenly one day, Maynard felt his life had become too monotonous, so he went to a fitness club and asked the owner, "Can you accept a student like me?" The man looked at this "meatball that had rolled in from nowhere," and in surprise, gave him a thumbs up: "O...OK, OK..." After successfully joining the club, Maynard chose the most challenging sport—wrestling. At the time, all the other students were dumbfounded. Yet, amidst countless astonished gazes, he began his training: leg presses, squats, weighted walks, lunge jumps...

In September 2008, the Georgia Fall Games were held. Upon hearing the news, Maynard signed up without a second thought. On the day of the competition, he crawled on the ground like a pangolin, alert and agile. His opponent hunched over, guarding against him warily. Suddenly, Maynard launched an attack, using his residual limbs to trip his opponent's legs, then with lightning speed, he used the force of his powerful shoulders and upper body to slam his opponent to the ground... In the end, he took home the championship in the wrestling event! The governor personally placed an olive wreath on his head and, on behalf of the state government, recommended him to the national team.

Today, Maynard is like an untamable leopard, active in major competitions both at home and abroad. His story of tenacity has inspired countless people. In August 2009, Maynard released his book, No Excuses. In the preface, he wrote that any difficulty or obstacle can be overcome as long as you are willing to conquer it. No excuse can hinder your path to success; if one does, it is simply because you have not tried hard enough!