NASCAR superstar Waltrip brightens one brave youngster's life

Sean Douglas, born with severe club feet, now wears these braces to support them. He can run and function quite normally. (T-G Photo by Sadie Fowler) [Order this photo]

A young Wartrace man who has been through a lot this year got to meet his own American idol this summer.

No, the boy's idol wasn't Kris Allen or David Cook.

After hearing about the young man's struggles and will to overcome, NASCAR superstar Darrell Waltrip invited Sean David Douglas to his Franklin car dealership to hang out for an afternoon.

"Young Sean has experienced a lot of loss and tough times in his young life," said Tabitha Palmer, a friend of the Douglas family. "He was born with club feet and has had to deal with all that goes along with that and in December 2008 he lost his father John Douglas in a motorcycle accident."

Chance meeting

Sean's mother, Karen, went shopping for a new family vehicle this summer. She says she chose a big name dealership, Waltrip's dealership, because she thought she could trust in a dealership with a big name attached to it.

Karen said she and the car salesman hit it off and began chatting about life in Shelbyville -- horses being a highlight of the conversation.

The salesman loves walking horses and Karen told him that her son, Sean, participates in Great Strides, a local therapeutic riding program.

The salesman soon learned the reason Sean rides with Great Strides is because he was born with bilateral club feet, where both of his feet were deformed. Since birth, Sean has undergone treatment at the Lexington (Ky.) Shriners Hospital, sometimes as often as once a week. Treatment has included regular recasting to realign his bone structure.

Though his condition has drastically improved over the years, Sean still wears orthopedic braces in his shoes -- but the braces are a far cry above some of the other casts he's had to wear over the years.

Many talents

"I like the braces," said the optimistic and outgoing young man. "I slip sometimes, but it's not like all the time. I can run, and do all sorts of things."

All sorts of things ... like play football, his favorite activity because it includes rough-housing with his friends, he said, and watch NASCAR. Sean is also an avid musician, a passion he developed a few years ago when he his club feet prevented him from running and playing sports.

"At 15 months old I saw him watching Billy Ray Cyrus one day on TV," said Karen. "He started playing the air guitar."

Sean taught himself, beginning at 21 months old, how to play the ukulele string instrument, but switched over to the banjo.

"I learned how to play by watching other people play and watching videos," he said.

His next mission is to learn to play the guitar.

"So we have a multi-talented little boy here," Karen said. "I'm very proud of him."

Unexpected call

Sean was recently invited to meet NASCAR star Darrell Waltrip. With Waltrip, at his Franklin car dealership, are friend Ben Nelson, Sean, sister Erin Douglas, and friends Hunter Palmer and Keigan Walker. (Submitted photo)

The proud mother and widow in need of a reliable car couldn't help herself from telling the Franklin car salesman all about her talented son, a student at Cascade.

"He said, 'Boy, your children have been through a lot,'" Karen said, explaining she had also told the salesman about the recent death of her husband, John.

"The next thing you know I got a call from the dealership," she said.

Waltrip, a three-time former NASCAR Winston Cup champion, the 1989 Daytona 500 winner, and current television race commentator, would be at his Franklin dealership filming a commercial ... and he wanted Sean to be there.

Meeting a champion

Sean's sister, Erin, and his friends Hunter Palmer, Keigan Walker and Ben Nelson joined Sean for the day, where Waltrip signed autographs, posed for pictures and talked to the children about his NASCAR career.

"Then they quietly watched as he did the commercial endorsing (NASCAR edition Bibles), which will air on Speed TV," Tabitha said. "Sean and his friends were the only ones that got to meet with Mr. Waltrip that day and watch the making of the commercial."

Sean's mother said Waltrip stopped during the commercial, looked at her and commented on how quiet and well behaved the children were.

Sean was pretty fond of Waltrip, too, but not nervous one bit.

"No, I wasn't nervous to talk to him," Sean said. "He was friendly. He even invited me back and said he wanted to sit down and talk to me about racing. I said, 'OK, let's do that one day.'"

Better days

Both physically and emotionally, Sean is doing better day by day. Karen credits the Shriners for making fantastic medical treatment available to Sean. She credits the community for helping her and her children get through the tragic loss of John.

"It's day to day," Karen said. "We all have our moments. We received a lot of support from our church, school and the community. They sort of engulfed the kids and myself with their support."