Triathlon is a race in which each person swims, rides a bicycle and runs over very long distances. It has been held ten times in Hope Town. Sam, aged 20, finished nine races with his younger brother Luke. Every race was a victory for them. Luke can't walk, talk or feed himself because of a rare brain illness since birth. But Sam wants his brother to know what it feels like to be part of a sport instead of having to sit and watch. A local TV journalist interviewed Sam after he received the Town Hero Award.
(J=Journalist, S=Sam)
J: How did you get the idea to include Luke in these events?
S: When I was ten, my mom showed me a video of two young men from another city doing triathlons. One of the men had a condition like Luke has. I got the idea from that.
J: What's it like having Luke along?
S: I feel good and proud during the whole triathlon, for I'm giving something to Luke. He can experience things any other man would.
J: What do you get from him?
S: It's the smile on Luke's face. That smile brightens me. The feeling of knowing that I've done something for him is unbelievable.
J: When you received the Town Hero Award, you talked about the importance of changing the way you see things. What did you mean?
S: People see Luke very differently: "Oh, he can't do something like that. He's disabled. " But if you just change how you see things, you can see there are many possibilities where Luke can do swimming, biking or even triathlons, like we do.
J: What do you want to share with other young men?
S: ▲
