CINCINNATI — Mathias Krodel has dreams of competing on a tennis court next summer at the Paralympics in Paris. It would be a long way from the orphanage in Serbia from which he was adopted after being born without legs.
Sixteen years ago, Amanda Krodel flew from Cincinnati to Serbia to adopt Mathias at the age of 2.
“I know my mom was looking at a couple different kids, and when she saw my photo, she said 'That’s the one,'” Mathias said.
Mothers seem to always know: A photo of that little boy across the world soon became a photo of her son.
“As soon as he came out, he was just a kid and I was just a happy mom,” Amanda said.
Amanda said she knew she wanted to adopt a child with limb differences.
“If he hadn’t of been adopted by age 3, he would have been institutionalized. He wouldn’t have gotten an education. He just would not have had opportunities,” Amanda said.
After some time acclimating to each other in Serbia, Amanda brought her son back to Cincinnati. While he got that opportunity to have an education, the path wasn't easy. Mathias said his differences from the other kids became noticeable.
“The realization of knowing that I look different, and not knowing anyone else that looks different, it was hard,” Mathias said
Amanda said some kids made fun of him or pitied him. They'd ask, "What happened to your legs?" Eventually, Mathias' classmates figured out he was "one of the most 'un-disabled' disabled kids I've ever seen," Amanda said.
"Once those kids saw that like, ‘Oh he’s a real person, he can actually do a lot more than we realized,'" Mathias said.
Loving to compete, Mathias started playing wheelchair tennis. Only playing the sport for three years, he’s already one of the top-ranked players in the nation.
"All of a sudden he wasn’t the kid who couldn’t do something," Amanda said. "He was the kid who did something that they couldn’t do."
Mathias' childhood built a mentality.
“Every time you really want something, you got to go and really grab it,” Mathias said.
He wants to be the best on the court.
“Everything I do, I do to the max,” Mathias said.
His coach Zack Sikora said Mathias is one of the "fastest athletes in the country."
“We laid out that plan to get (to the Paralympics). I think that in order to make that happen he has to make tennis his life, of course, he is doing that right now,” Sikora said.
Alone on his side of the court, proving on a daily basis, Mathias does not need help.
“If I mess up, I know it’s on me, I know I can fix it. So when I get success, I don’t have to share it,” Mathias said.
But he does share his success.
“Everything I’ve done is because of (mom),” Mathias said.
“Our world will be completely changed if everybody just had one person,” Amanda said.
One person gave a little boy born without legs from across the world a chance at Paralympic dreams.
