On June 10th, we kicked off our “Tell Us Your Story” contest. The contest encouraged athletes of all ages and genders to tell stories of overcoming adversity.

About a year ago, my girlfriend and I planned a trip to Hawaii to do some surfing.

Last month the United States military hit a grisly milestone. The number of American servicemen and women who lost a limb in Iraq or Afghanistan went over 1,000.

Let those numbers sink in for a minute. 1,500 push-ups. 40 minutes. FOUR YEARS OLD!

On March 24th, 1986 a baby boy was born in Suwanee, Georgia. However he wasn’t like the other kids born that day. This baby had a condition known as congenital amputation, which, according to Wikipedia is a congenital disorder that can be caused by fibrous bands of the amnion that constrict foetal limbs to such an extent, that they fall off due to missing blood supply.

This week's inspirational story comes from Diana Juarez of RGV, Texas. We'd like to thank Diana for sharing her story and wish her the best of luck. We hope you enjoy this great story.
 

My son Cameron was born on February 19, 2002. At just 36 weeks, he was a full month early. When he was born, he didn’t come out crying like a normal infant. Instead, he came out quiet and blue. He needed oxygen held in front of his face while my wife held him. Despite the oxygen and his mother’s arms, he was still not crying. It was obvious something was wrong.

In 14 days I am going to be 34 years old…still a young man by most people’s standards. In my 33-plus years I graduated college, got married, had a child, got divorced and had some fun along the way. If I were to die tomorrow, there really wouldn’t be much else to etch into my tombstone. Not that I’m complaining.

This post comes from our guest blogger, Janet from New Jersey. We'd like to thank Janet for taking the time to share her story and encourage you to share inspirational stories of your own.
 

Ray Lewis has always been known for his ferocious tenacity on the football field. But behind the gruff exterior, lies the heart of a man who yearns to help his fellow man. Check out this exclusive video from ESPN detailing how #52 is helping his city out of the shadow of poverty.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4759166