ABILITY Magazine Interview: Shayne Smith

Make sure you get my good side,
which is, like, all of this.

I think the biggest thing that
people need to know, in this world,

is that there is no limit, right?

We always hear the saying
"The sky's the limit."

How many times
have you been told:

"You can do whatever you want,
the sky is the limit!"

"You can get there!"

Well, I think that's a load of BS.

Sitting here saying, "the sky's the limit"

well, we have footprints on the Moon,

we have Felix Baumgartner
skydiving from space.

Now tell me the sky's the limit.

When I was four months old,

I contracted a rare form of meningitis
called meningococcal septicaemia.

What it did was it attacked my bloodstream
so all the blood in my body stopped.

The doctors had to find where,

amputate my left hand, my legs
and some fingers on the right.

Everyone always says to me
"Oh my gosh Shayne!

You're so incredible, you're so strong,
you're so amazing!

You have such a big heart,
You have a great heart."

And really my answer to that
always is, you know

I got it from my mama!

My mom not only did all this,
but she did it on her own.

My dad split, alright,
so my mom really was

mom, dad, taxi driver, you know,
basketball coach, hockey coach.

My mom was everything.

I've got to do some really cool things.

Out of 60,000 kids,
I was chosen at 12 years old

to have lunch with Nelson Mandela.

At 25, probably the greatest experience
I'll ever have in my entire life

came at 12 years old!

When I looked at Nelson Mandela and
I said: "Mister Mandela,

Sir, it's an honor for me to meet you."

And he looks down at me and
he puts his hand on my shoulder

and Nelson Mandela replies to me:

"No my child, it's an honor that
I got to share a meal with you."

I played basketball for about 17 years.

Hum, I played on
the junior national team in Canada.

And it's a very proud thing
for me to be able to say

I am the only player with
half a hand to do that in history.

So for me that's really cool to say.

I played basketball in a gym called
Variety Village in Toronto

and it's a sports and training facility
for people with all kinds of challenges...

and not.
So it's a training facility for everybody.

And I was there to promote them.

And afterwards everyone came up to me
at 8 years old and said:

"You should really do this for a living,
you're really good at it!"

Then I gave another one
and another one...

and now at 25, I run a speaking company.

Hum, my favorite exercise that
I run with the kids

when I do my speaking is
I'd get them to tell me something

that they love to do

So you know I'm gonna,
I'm gonna do it with you.

Give me anything that you love to do.
"Sing"

Are you the best at it?
"Yes, I am."

Louder.
"Yes, I am!"

I quickly tell them
Well, now, you know

Imagine if we were all to decide that
we were the best at something on a daily basis

How powerful and incredible
this building would be?

Always. And then
I don't exclude myself from it.

So I tell them, you know
Best one-handed wheelchair

basketball player in the world.
I think, I do.

I believe that that's me.

Rap. I think I'm the best
white disabled Jewish rapper

in the world.
I'm gonna say that too.

"Great detail"
Right? Right?!

I mean, I go even farther than that.
This is where I really like to connect

with them. I tell them that
you know, the only reason why

Channing Tatum won
sexiest man in the world

is 'cos the people that write
the articles haven't met me yet.

I think that 96% of women
fall in love with me

within 5 minutes of meeting me.

But I quickly change that and say

Of all these women,
why it's so easy for them

to fall in love with me is because
I'm in love with me.

And that's where it starts, right?
As soon as you can love

who you are, like
truly love who you are

it is very easy for other people
to love you, right?