Kelly Hanson
All people are different and unique. That’s what makes the world beautiful and exciting.
People with disabilities are just like everyone else, but they often work harder. They can have just as much determination as a person with no apparent disabilities and can achieve just as much as well.
Emmanuel Kelly was born in Iraq, but his parents put his deformed body and his brother too, in shoeboxes. An Australian woman found them and brought them to her country, adopting them both. They were both at the side of the stage as he walked to the center. Kelly has only one hand and shortened legs, but he had no shortage of spirit, and he stood there before four judges on Australia’s version of “X-Factor.”
Kelly then told the judges that he was singing John Lennon’s “Imagine.” About three notes into the song, when he first started singing, the audience went bonkers. The judges were amazed, too. All four of them were incredibly moved by what they were hearing. One of them could be seen wiping her eyes during the song. He was quite the showman too, even deftly holding the mic with his ruined hand. It was amazing.
I, too, was wiping tears away from my eyes by the time Kelly ended the song. The judges were more than profuse about his courage to come up on stage. They pointed out that he entertained the audience too. Then came the supposedly suspenseful part – they had to vote on whether or not they wanted him to stay on the show. In the most anticlimactic moments ever, they said “Yes” which sent him and his family into a frenzy of hugging.
