| Super Kid: Cody Peer |
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| Written by Malika Dudley - mdudley@kgmb9.com | |||
| March 27, 2008 07:58 AM | |||
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"From the time this little girl was born, she was just doing amazing things," says her mom, Sandra Peer. Her parents say she was overcoming obstacles even before she could walk or talk, much less get on a skateboard. It's amazing that Cody is in good health. She was born with a hole in her eye, a rare condition called a coloboma that can leave you blind. A few months later, she got apnea and stopped breathing. Cody spent months at Shriners being monitored. The girl who's life and sight were threatened as an infant luckily now has a clean bill of health and chooses to live life to the fullest. "I would say, nothing can stop you but you. It's all your choice in life to what you want to do," she says. What Cody wants to do is skate. It all started when she got her first surf lesson. "When she was 3 or 4 she started surfing with her father," her mom says, "and she excelled in that. She became number 1. She got so many trophies and then one day she just decided to rollerblade, and a couple weeks later, (she said) 'Mom, I want a skateboard.'" Skating can be a lot of fun, but when Cody's in the skate park, she's all business. "I have competed. There was actually one all girl skate jam. That was pretty exciting because there's not many girls that attend contests and stuff." In a race against the girls, Cody comes out on top, but most of the time, she likes to challenge the boys. "It's always nice to come out to the skate park and see all the guys. They respect you for being a girl, and coming out there and skating, so it feels good. It feels real good to be the only girl in the skate park. "Skateboarding is my commitment. It's a good path for me, it keeps me out of trouble and it keeps me physically fit and mentally fit to go on every day and have a smile on my face." And if skating professionally doesn't work out, Cody has other goals too. At 16, when most kids are just students, Cody takes on the role of a teacher in a recreational leadership program at Mililani Middle School. "You get to shadow the teacher. You get to like help the teacher out and teach the kids exercises and knowledge that they taught you and you get to switch it around and teach them. So it's a good experience." For her work, she was even recognized as an outstanding student by the Hawaii Senate. "She can do anything. She really can do anything. She is that special child, special kid, Super Kid," says her mom. "I hope so. I try my best to be a respectful person and do the sport that I love and be committed to school so if you consider that a Super Kid, then I guess you can say yeah," Cody says.               |
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| Last Updated ( December 16, 2008 05:59 PM ) | |||
