WELLNESS
The impossible mile Parents help son become the ‘athlete he wanted to be.’ BY ANN BYLE
// PHOTOS BY MICHELLE CUPPY
Johnny Agar loves sports. He loves watching baseball, hockey, football, basketball, and just about every other sport. He loved sports as a child when he thought of his physical therapies as workouts. He wore jerseys of his favorite Red Wings players — Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Shanahan —during therapy and watched them on TV every chance he got. But playing sports in the usual sense was not part of the picture. Johnny, 27, was born with cerebral palsy. His body is twisted, and his arms and legs don’t work the same way most people’s do. When he gets excited, his arms move up and his fingers tighten. Yet this sports fan doesn’t sit in his wheelchair on the sideline. He participates in Iron Man events and running events regularly, his dad with him every step of the way and his family and friends cheering them on. GR M AG .CO M
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