Dad cherishes son’s Special Olympics success
By Keith Russell
Click here for updates on this story
DALLAS (KTVT) — On this Father’s Day, I couldn’t help but shine a light on a moment my college roommate at Morgan State University, Michael Baker, will never forget.
A moment any parent would cherish — seeing their child win a silver medal in their Special Olympics debut.
Michael Baker says he, his wife and son “practiced five weeks and he never crossed that finish line until that 50 meter race and that was the best feeling ever. And I smile about it to this day.”
Baker held his 10-year-old son, Michael Jr., at the starting line and told him run to mommy. And the rest was history.
And now he has an accomplishment no one can ever take away.
Michael Baker says, “For us it’s a milestone. For Michael Jr., it’s just a regular day. The world stopped for that ten seconds but Mike was just like ‘what’s next? Where do we eat? Where are we going?’”
Mike Jr. has been on the autism spectrum since he was first diagnosed at age 3.
When asked what message this says to other parents, in terms of what their kids can accomplish, in spite of special need, Baker implores that parents, “Don’t give up. Put your child into anything possible. Because you’ll never know what miracles you’ll see. In the sports world, miracles happen all the time. And we saw another one on that Sunday morning.”
And his son Michael Jr., “made my Father’s Day last week. So this is icing on the cake.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
