Little boy on trampoline is the best thing you’ll see today
Like most 4-year-olds, Wyatt Burggraff loves the trampoline. Loves.
But it wasn't always that way. His mom, Allison Burggraff, told "Good Morning America" that he used to be scared of it.
Wyatt was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. But TNT Kid's Fitness & Gymnastics — the gym he attends weekly in Fargo, North Dakota — doesn't let that stop Wyatt from enjoying the same things every kid loves to do.
"They're very well-trained and Wyatt has a ball," his mom told "GMA."
That's evident from a video of Wyatt on the trampoline that's now been seen 6 million times on the gym's Facebook page.
Nate Hendrickson, the gym's special needs coordinator, told "GMA" the coaches facilitate safe and successful attempts for Wyatt and all the other children with special needs that attend the gym.
Kim Pladson, the executive director of the TNT Kid's Fitness & Gymnastics, said when the gym was founded she dreamed of a place where people of all abilities could come together. She hoped to "transform the community."
Thirteen years later, it has. Three dozen schools come to the gym and children with and without special needs train and play alongside their peers.
That inclusiveness, Hendrickson said, leads to "mutual respect and quality relationships [between the kids]. Performance increases for all levels," he said.
For Wyatt, the benefits of the gym go far beyond the physical. "They empower his with affirming words, they tell him he is strong, brave and courageous," Burggraff said. "When Wyatt has gone through medical issues — getting an IV or MRI we can say to and draw on that experience and say 'you can do hard things.'"
Burggraff told "GMA" TNT Kid's Fitness & Gymnastics has been a "huge blessing" to the whole family including is older sister, Lucy, and little brother, Paul. Her community, she said, has given Wyatt so many opportunities to shine. Through a local organization called Hope, Inc., he has skied, played baseball and soccer and been in a fashion show.
The gym's communications director, Tim Frie, told "GMA" that TNT Kid's Fitness & Gymnastics has brought their inclusive approach to two gyms nearby with great success and hope to replicate it all over the country.
"We want [other facilities] to know there are options and if they want this, we can give that to them."
