NYer of the Week: James Lozano Motivates Kids to Live Life Without Limitations

NY1—June 20, 2014

The latest New Yorker of the Week has been a patient at the Hospital for Special Surgery since he was eight months old. Now 16, he walks, runs, and inspires younger kids to believe in themselves, too. NY1's John Schiumo filed the following report.

A handball court is just one of places you'll find 16-year-old James Lozano. He plays baseball, wrestles for his high school team and snowboards. This Queens native never lets his prosthetic legs slow him down.

"I see it as, like, an advantage, because they're like, I don't know, bionic. I don't need shin guards," Lozano said.

James was born with a rare deformity. At barely a year old, he faced a life-changing experience.

"When we had to endure the situation with James, the surgery, the amputation of his legs, it was very difficult for us," Gloria Lozano, James' mother, said through an interpreter. "Through that situation, we learned to give as much as we receive."

James received support at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Now, he offers it. Doctors invite James to help children and families overcome similar surgeries.

For years, he never said no.

"What we love about James is his positive attitude," said Daniel Green, MD, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery. "James has been one of those patients where he'll come the same day and say, 'Sure, Doc, I'll be there. What time do you need me?'"

So, for motivating kids to live life without limitations, James Lozano is our New Yorker of the Week.

This story originally appeared at ny1.com.