World-renowned disabled athlete to speak April 19-20 in Wausau

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - The public is invited to hear the remarkable story of a man who defied the odds and now spreads his message of empowerment during a free event this week in Wausau.

Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah will share his story and message on Wednesday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. at UWSP Wausau Campus Theater and Thursday, April 20 at 6:15 p.m. at Wausau West High School Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Yeboah was born in Ghana, West Africa in 1977. He was born with a deformed leg and dismissed by most people, except his mother.

As a boy, he hopped to school more than two miles each way, learned to play soccer, left home at age thirteen to provide for his family, and, eventually, became a cyclist. He rode an astonishing four hundred miles across Ghana in 2001, spreading his powerful message: disability is not inability.

In 2005, he received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for bringing attention to disabled people in Ghana.