My name is Brandon Hurley. I was born with a brain injury (poren-cephalic cyst) most commonly called cerebral palsy. This affects the right side of my body and is medically referred to as right side spastic hemiplegia. I wear a brace on my right foot and have limited use of my right arm and hand. If you saw me, you would not notice that I had a disabilty. You might think I was lazy or slow, because my spine is not quite straight and I walk with a limp that can almost be interpreted as "swagger."

Right away my Mom knew something was was not "normal", but I was not officially diagnosed until I was not 9 months old. After that my life consisted of medical tests, doctor appointments, hearing tests, speech, physical and occupational therapy all the way through grade school. I even went to specialists in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Along the way there were medical speculations that "if he learns to walk, it may not be be until he is past two years old" or "if he learns to speak so that others can understand him, it may not be until he is past four years old." They were wrong - my Mom doesn't believe in "if".

I was never treated as someone with a disability and was never allowed to use it as an excuse to get of doing anything (although that didn't stop me from trying to get out of gym in middle school). I was not allowed to ask for help on things that were difficult for me to do until I tried to do it on my own first. I was also never told I couldn't do anything because of my disabilty and was never discouraged to try anything.

In 1989 the movie "Gleaming the Cube", came out -- a movie about a skateboarder. I was 4 years old when I saw this movie and I was hooked. When I was five, I received my first skateboard for Christmas. Because of my right side limitations, my balance was horrible but that didn't stop me from trying and developing my own unique skate style.

Skating started taking off a few years after that movie came out and skateparks started popping up everywhere. My Mom would drive me and my friends to skateparks around the state, up in Canada and down through California. That's when I discovered street skating was more my passion than vert.

I went to my first professional skate competition as an observer when I was 16, the Van's Slam City Skate Jam In Vancouver, B.C. There I met Steve Caballero, one of the best skateboarders of all time and one of my idols. I also met Steve Olsen, another great skater and local Tacoma boy gone pro. Steve Olsen and I became friends after that and still keep in touch today. Going to that competition and meeting a few of my skate idols, encouraged me to enter local skate competitions. I was never a winner, people didn't understand my skating style, but that never stopped me from entering.

When I was 14, I developed an interest in film and received my first video camera. I started filming and editing my own skate videos which would include me and my friends. My equipment gradually got better as did my filming and editing techniques. All of the video links are my own work.

So now I am 38 years old. I still skate and I still film. And I have an 16 year old son that rides he BMX bike and films with me.

My story is not exceptional. My disability is not a barrier. But, if my story can inspire or encourage someone to see beyond their own challenges, then it's a good day.