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Patrick says when the director asked him to join the marching band, the decision was easy. "I knew it was going to be awesome. I've always loved an audience and the applause," he says. "There would be around 45,000 screaming and applauding fans, all enjoying the band and looking forward to a big game."

Once devastated by the news of their son's disabilities, Patrick's parents are now inspired by his seemingly endless possibilities. "When Patrick was born, [I thought], 'Why us, what did we do? Why do we have a blind child that's confined to the wheelchair,'" Patrick's father says. "Now it's like, 'Wow, why us? What a gift this young man is.'"

Patrick says his blindness isn't really a disability at all. "Sighted people, they can see a person's hair length or the clothes they wear or their skin color. With me, certain words like 'black' or 'white' are adjectives that have no meaning whatsoever," he says. "I just see the love within a person."