An eighth-grader on the Manchester-Essex High swim team competing against able-bodied athletes four years his senior, Driscoll does not have a leg below his left knee.
“In the beginning, it was, ‘Wow, look at him,’ ’’ said Manchester-Essex coach Katie Garvin.
“But now the older kids who have been on the team with him since last year, there’s that quiet respect. They don’t treat him differently. He’s just one of the team.’’
The reaction is more pronounced from outsiders at meets.
“They’re like, ‘Wow, this kid is incredible,’ ’’ added Garvin. “Because he’s competitive. That’s the thing. He’s not just swimming the JV races and the short stuff. He’s right in there. And he’s gutsy. In that respect, people are impressed.’’
Asked if he considers his condition a handicap, the 14-year-old Driscoll shrugged his sturdy shoulders, before adding: “I’ve lived with it my whole life, so no, not really.’’
Driscoll was born with a congenital condition in which the tibia and fibula of his left leg did not develop. When he was 5, doctors at Children’s Hospital performed a knee disarticulation on the leg to preserve the growth plate and ensure that his left thigh would develop normally.
“I always remember the little boy who was frustrated at the dining room table after school,’’ said his mother, Ginger.
“All he wanted to do was sports. He just wanted to run. And now he’s swimming. We’re so far beyond [those early days] now. I feel so grateful for everybody who helped him to get where he is, and where he’s going. But he’s the one driving this. It’s his determination that has really been the difference.’’
Driscoll’s life took a dramatic turn at age 8, when he received his first running prosthetic from the Challenged Athletes Foundation. The family’s insurance wouldn’t cover the expensive apparatus (the carbon “foot’’ for the high-tech Ossur prosthetic alone can cost more than $4,000), and the foundation stepped in.
