Patrick Henry Hughes

I am a sentimental sap and am easily moved to tears watching movies, television shows and even some commercials choke me up. One of my favorite tear jerker shows is Extreme Makeover - Home Edition. This Sunday night's episode was one of my favorites episodes.


The family this week was the Hughes family. What an amazing family, what an amazing young man and an incredible father.

Patricia and Patrick John Hughes’s eldest son, Patrick Henry, (19) was born without eyes and without the ability to fully straighten his arms and legs, leaving him unable to walk. The wheelchair-bound Patrick Henry has not let obstacles stand in the way of achieving his goals.


Patrick Henry showed extraordinary abilities at a very early age despite his physical challenges.Patrick Henry is an amazing pianist. By the age of two, the toddler could play songs on the piano after hearing them only once. The gifted young man is not only a university student, but also plays a wide array of musical instruments, is an accomplished singer, and an exuberant trumpet player in the University of Louisville School of Music Marching and Pep Band.



The remarkable Patrick Henry has commented in previous interviews he feels he’s “been blessed” and is grateful for his abilities.

His father, Patrick John Hughes, works a night shift so he can accompany his son to university classes during the day, providing visual aid to the eager student as needed. Inspired by his son’s “can do” attitude, Patrick John also guides the wheelchair, keeping pace with the other 220+ marching band members during practice and game formations. **What an amazing father!!**So many of Patrick Henry’s accomplishments are made possible with the additional, inexhaustible support of his mother, Patricia, and brothers, Jesse and Cameron.

Patrick Henry was born with several birth defects but has the most amazing attitude. One statement that Patrick Henry said tugged at my heart - he looks at his "disability" of being blind as an "ABILITY" because he does not know what anyone looks like on the outside but gets to know the person on the inside. Sometimes we (myself included) are so wrapped up in what people look like, what they wear, how different they look that we don't even get to "know" the person before judging them.

I want to be more like Patrick Henry.

You can see a video of Patrick Henry here...