Eight-year-old Trevor Bell is making a splash on the Central Coast. He’s a tremendous athlete who excels at swimming, skiing, soccer, and triathlons.
Trevor was born with only one leg.
“The doctor pointed out that he was missing a femur. As a parent, it’s shocking,” said Tim Bell, Trevor’s father. “You’re devastated, and then like anything else, you have to put one foot in front of the other – there’s no pun intended there – and Trevor does just that. He has only one leg but he does not look at anything any different. He moves on with life like it wasn’t really a handicap.”
Trevor recently came back from his third Junior Olympics appearance with the Puma Aquatics swim team. He placed top six in all his swimming events. Being handicap doesn’t even phase him.
“It doesn’t really make it that hard. I mean, it might decrease my speed a little but it doesn’t make it harder,” said Trevor.
In fact, Trevor likes to make some fun out of it.
“When we’re at the beach, I sometimes say that a shark bit my leg off. They usually believe it, but I tell them the truth.”
The truth is, at just eight years old, Trevor carries the strength and courage to not let anything stop him.
“People don’t even realize he doesn’t have a leg. He dives in and he passes half of the kids in his age group with his breakout and when he climbs out of the pool, they’re like, ‘whoa, what just happened there? That guy kicking with one leg just blew us away,'” said Karen Neil, Puma Aquatics swim coach. “It’s been amazing to watch. He’s really an inspiration to all of us.”
Trevor understands that he is an inspiration to others and has a message for those who have a handicap.
“Keep going and don’t stop because it’s not going to do anything, it’s only making it stronger.”
