SAN ANTONIO – Ten teams gathered in San Antonio Saturday to pull a firetruck and raise money for the Special Olympics Texas in the process.
Pulling a 66,000-pound firetruck 75 feet may seem close to crazy, but the teams had a lot of great motivation behind their efforts.
That motivation lies in people like Ruben Johnson, who competes in the Special Olympics.
"I got Ruben in 1968 as a foster child when he came into my classroom. He'd been found by the police locked up in a chicken coop living like a little animal. No language, receptive language, nothing," said Shirley Johnson, Ruben's mother.
Ruben was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and was unable to use his right arm at all.
"Four neurologists here in town said he would never progress above a severely handicapped child," said Shirley Johnson.
However, Ruben has beaten the odds and now hold a job at McDonald's, communicates and has full use of both of his arms.
His mother said they owe all of Ruben's success to the Special Olympics.
"Because the Special Olympics has a thing called Healthy Athletes and they provide him with hearing aids, glasses, things like that, much better than Medicare ever paid for," said Shirley Johnson.
Ruben joined his fellow athletes Saturday to pull the firetruck in support of the Special Olympics to help others achieve their goals.