ABILITY Magazine Interview: Shayne Smith

Make sure you get my good side, which is, like, all 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 "sky's the limit"

how many times have you been told that you can do whatever you want? Sky's the limit, you can get there

Well, i think that's a load of BS

Sitting here saying, "sky's the limit", we have footprints on the moon, we have Felix Baumgartner skydying 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.

That twenty ...
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 olds
"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?