Ogden High School’s wrestling team showed up for a wrestling meet at Humboldt High School. The home coach greeted them with the news that one of his wrestlers had Down’s syndrome. “He has no skill but loves to compete. You can pin him in seconds. He knows he’ll lose; he just wants to roll around on the mat for a little bit. Would anyone on your team be willing to wrestle with him?”
First, there was silence. Then a lone voice on the Ogden team replied, “I’ll do it,” and wrestler Lane Brueland stepped forward to grapple with the boy named Brent.
The gesture alone was commendable, but what Brueland did next was exemplary. Instead of doing what the Humboldt coach requested, Brueland wrestled with the boy for the full six minutes. Not only that, he let the youngster score enough points to win the match.
When Brent’s hand was raised and he looked up in wonder and said, “I won?” There wasn’t a dry eye in the gym. Both boys got a standing ovation.
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Copyright 2007 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation’s leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit http://www.charactercounts.org
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of #21013]