13-yr-old Zackary Barboza has a dream. Pro skateboarding. He said his journey has been tough, and he has faced a lot of bad skating days with tons of injuries, but that has not stopped him from trying to be the best he can be at what he loves.  

“On Sept. 28, my sisters took me to the skate park,” Zackary said. “Everything was going great. I had done my first heel flip that day. I was feeling so confident in my pop. So great I was going to attempt to do a kick flip, I ended up falling straight down the ramp and twisting my ankle. This had a lot of impact on me and I kind of gave up on skating for a bit.”

Zackary said he was so disappointed in himself after failing at the trick he didn’t even look at his board for a while. 

“I know I wasn’t supposed to blame myself for my injury, but I could not help it,” Zackary said. “I couldn’t get the negative thoughts out of my head. I didn’t even end up having to go to the hospital or anything. we just kind of assumed that something was wrong with it. I couldn’t walk for a while, so I took time to let that heal before getting back on the board.” 

Oct. 18, he decided to get back on his board and go back to the skate park. 

“Getting back on the board was such a good decision,” Zackary said. “I had almost forgotten how therapeutic skating was for me. The rush of wind that hit me as I went down the ramp for the first time in maybe three weeks or a month felt so good. I appreciate the skate parks so much and the sport that has brought me so much happiness.” 

Zackary said he now has learned to be more careful and take care of himself when skating, and a few other things too. 

“Now when I go skating, I wear pads on my knees and elbows,” Zackary said. “I know that isn’t protection for my minor injury a month ago, but it is definitely protecting me from any other kinds of injuries because I for sure am not planning on having a lot of injuries, and I definitely don’t want to experience one worse than my ankle. I also have learned to appreciate my sport so much more. I hope that my story will inspire anyone else to take more care of themselves while skating or playing any sport really.”