Mack & Cam

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I recently worked on a short feature story on Mack and Cam. They have been friends since they were in first grade. As high school seniors, they remain inseperable. Mack pushed Cam, who has cerebral palsey in an improvised stroller each cross-country meet, easily coming in just over 20 minutes each time. I spent a few days with them. I think teens and kids are at a pretty general point nowadays, where a kid with a condition like Cam doesn't garner much ridicule. At least not like it was when I was younger, and so on as the generations go back. There still exists a gap, one that I noticed even as a high school student myself. In my high school, I can't really remember any kids getting openly made fun of, but this chasm still existed. Seeing Mack and Cam go everywhere together, watching Mack throw him around on a trampoline as he squealed with approval amongst their peers tells me integration is really the last step. It isn't enough for people to just be cool with someone like Cam. His inclusion is what impressed me the most. Mack's unapologetic and darkly humorous approach can be seen in THIS photo. Cam wanted to make his homecoming pictures funny so he had Mack convince his date to sit in the wheelchair while Cam sat on the floor for their dance pictures. It is important and probably the world for Cam to be so thickly intertwined in high school life...possibly entirely via Mack, but at the same time I started to see the importance manifest itself with everyone around Cam. They weren't just polite, they were friends, they acknowledged him, interacted with him. I saw that the next step after knowing we should be kind and courteous, is knowing that we don't need to worry about what to say to a teenager in a wheelchair, who can't speak or control his muscles. All that's required is a unapologetic interest started with hello.

To read the printed story click HERE.