Tom Willis was born without arms, but he hasn’t let that get in the way of living his life. As noted on his website, he’s earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree, worked as a video producer and communications specialist with the federal government for more than 20 years, and has run Tomsfeet Productions for nearly a decade, which includes being a TV and video producer and a motivational speaker. Oh, and he throws a pretty accurate pitch, too.
As San Diego‘s Fox 5 reported, Willis is on a campaign to throw out the first pitch of a game at each stadium in the major leagues. It’s part of his Pitch for Awareness campaign, to inform the public about people with disabilities. So far this year, he’s thrown out the first pitch at 10 different stadiums, including his most recent appearance at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park on Aug. 15, where he received a distinguished service award on Disability Awareness Night. His next appearance will be on Sept. 30 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
Learning to throw the ball with his feet took a lot of practice, and it can’t be easy having to do so in front of thousands of people. Yet Willis can’t help but get excited. As he’s quoted, “There’s nothing like that feeling to walk out to the pitcher’s mound when they announce your name and look up and look around you.”
You can see him pitch in the video below, and you can find out more about him as his website.
Screengrab by tfeet via YouTube.