Standing Tall

UPLIFTING: In July, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, once presented to Muhammad Ali.


Standing Tall
By Mary Anne Potts



UPLIFTING: In July, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, once presented to Muhammad Ali.


When a letter from Ghana landed on the desk of Bob Babbitt, 53, co-founder of the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), he was moved. Born without a right tibia, Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, 29, was writing to ask the CAF for a bike to pedal 370 miles (595 kilometers) across his country in order to dispel the stigma that Ghana's disabled are incapable of more than begging. When Yeboah's 2002 ride stirred a media frenzy, Babbitt contacted Lookalike Productions about the remarkable story starting to unfold. The new documentary, Emmanuel's Gift, narrated by Oprah Winfrey, has won over audiences at screenings across the country. Here Babbitt—who is also co-founder of the Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series, a seven-city, Adventure-sponsored event benefiting the CAF—talks about Yeboah's impact.

Yeboah received a $25,000 grant from Nike (matched by the CAF) and won the attention of Oprah Winfrey and fellow Ghanaian Kofi Annan. Did you foresee such a reaction?

Not at all. But the difference between hearing someone's story and seeing it on film is immense. With his grant money, Emmanuel is sending disabled kids in Ghana to school and providing them with opportunities. Those kids will start to change the Ghanaian perception of disabled people. Even though no one would question it if Emmanuel stayed in the U.S., he wants to be in Ghana. He's galvanized the disabled individuals of his country.

How did Yeboah get his prosthetic leg?

After his cross-country ride, we invited Emmanuel to do the 56-mile (90-kilometer) biking portion of the CAF triathlon in San Diego. He'd never left Ghana before. We then explored whether he was a candidate for a prosthetic leg. In Ghana, people who have amputations don't live, or they get a useless prosthetic. After Emmanuel had the operation in the U.S., he did the CAF race again, cutting his time from seven to four hours. He also did the Muddy Buddy in 2003.

Disabled athletes are encouraged to enter the Muddy Buddy race, which kicks off in San Jose, California, in June. Do they inspire other racers?

The impact is remarkable. Sandy Dukat, a skier sponsored by the CAF, came out to the Chicago Muddy Buddy in 2003. Just before she got to the mud pit at the end of the race, she pulled out an Allen wrench, unscrewed her $36,000 prosthetic leg, held it above her head for the racers at the finish line, and dove in. The crowd went wild.