A Journey to Resilience

The power of “yet” is what led me to where I am today.

David Solano

Meet David Solano who runs his own Non Profit Organization – Solano’s No Limit Hoops

Published here is just an intro of an amazing person who is a teacher as well as a Basketball Coach. Please do visit and follow his website to get to know about him and his journey.

Hello my name is David Solano. I find it unreal that my story inspires others. When everyone I meet inspires me in one way or another. I am purely a product of my parent’s love and belief to create a nice young man who is now an older man. Today, I stand before you as a dad, husband, teacher, basketball coach and the president of my own non-profit organization Solano’s No Limit Hoops. But my story started a little over 45 years ago when my mom and dad brought me home from the hospital with more questions than answers.

What is arthrogryposis? Will my son be able to walk? Will he live an independent life? Will he be able to drive a car? All they heard from the doctors were grim responses. Your son may not walk, your son may not be able to hold a pencil. Your son may not be that independent in life. My mom and dad took me home and they gave me the love and the desire. They gave me the nurturing to be great. They never let me use my handicap as a crutch. Now I know the word “handicap” isn’t the most popular term in today’s world. But my mom and dad would never let me use the word disabled. They would say “David, disabled means unable. Handicap means you need help completing the task or you need to complete the task in your own way.” That is truly the most important part of my story, completing a task my own way.

As you get to know me, I will be sharing with you a lot of the battles that I faced. Every battle that I faced, I had my mom and my dad with me. Sometimes my mom was in front of me, sometimes she was beside me and sometimes she was behind me letting me learn how to fight for myself. She always taught me to be strong. She always taught me that each battle I was going to face I had to stay level headed, I had to stay strong. I couldn’t falter. I had to be great. My dad he gave me the strength when I wanted to cry. He gave me the strength when I wanted to curl up behind my mom and say “no mom, you go get ‘em.” They gave me that strength to be great. Without them I, wouldn’t be a teacher, basketball coach. I know for sure I wouldn’t be a dad, I wouldn’t have a wife.

In some of the stories I share, they aren’t going to seem real, You will hear stories of doors being shut in my face, me being discriminated against and people just being completely rude to me because of my arms. Even till day I face a lot of battles but I just keep moving along because each time I face a battle, I know it’s just a speed bump, some are bigger than others but they’re all passable.

In 2016, I dislocated my right knee. This became life changing, when after the rehab my leg lost the ability to walk due to this freak accident. I was a walking person. I loved walking. If I could have walked there instead of driving I would have. Now, I didn’t go home and mope. I looked up to the sky and asked “mom, another battle?” I think I heard her say yes. I still work at walking every day, The doctors don’t know if it will work again, but I believe in the power of yet. Yes, I am not walking now but it’s better to say I am not walking yet. It’s just a matter of time and work.

I call my nonprofit Solano’s No Limit Hoops because I don’t believe in putting limits on things. The second you put a limit on something, it says that is as far as you can go. I’m teaching the kids in my neighborhood that there are no limits of what you can do in life. As you watch my videos you will learn how I have lived my life and how I’ve overcome some of the obstacles I’ve been through in my life. You will say to yourself “if David can do it why can’t I do it?” you have to believe that “Anything is Possible” because that is what I teach all those that I work with……ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Take a walk with me through my Journey to Resilience.

David Solano