Ten-year-old Jaxon Payton is a multi-sport athlete who excels in soccer, football and wrestling at Pasadena’s First Baptist Christian Academy and in his Deer Park recreational leagues. Remarkably, this standout athlete was born without both of his hands.
A diagnosis of Amniotic Band Syndrome came at the 20-week ultrasound before Jaxon was born.
“Inside the amniotic sac, little, microscopic tears will pull off - it’s kind of like fishing wire - and they’ll get wrapped around different limbs. For him, they believe it was wrapped around before the hands started developing, so it cut off blood flow and nutrients and that’s why they didn’t develop. They warned us that we’ll probably have more problems with it than he would, and that’s still true today,” said Keith Payton, Jaxon’s dad.
Being born without hands isn’t holding Jaxon back. His mom Jennifer Payton says, “If he wants to do it, he’s going to figure it out. We pretty much just let him go.”
As a toddler, Jaxon worked with Occupational Therapists at Shriners Children’s Hospital to learn how to do things like grab a spoon and write. Now, Jaxon loves to draw and play video games. In addition to being an athlete, Jaxon’s mom says he also gets straight A’s in school.
Jaxon’s dad Keith is one of his football coaches and says, “The coaches treat him like any other kid. So, while he’s playing, if he messes up, they’ll get onto him. When he does well, they praise him. And we expect him to perform just like any other kid.”
Jaxon says opponents sometimes underestimate him, but he quickly shows them what he can do. Their reactions, according to Jaxon, “Mind-blown. They were mind-blown. It makes me feel good that I showed them that I can do stuff that other people can’t.”
“Every time he’s out there, every time he’s just doing the unimaginable, unthinkable that most people would think he couldn’t…I couldn’t be any more proud of him. He amazes me every day, he inspires me every day,” said Jennifer Payton.
Jaxon hopes to one day play professional football in the NFL.