Canadian baseball star Tyson Gillies ignored naysayers who said he may not make the big leagues because he is clinically deaf.
Part of Canada’s gold medal winning baseball team at the Pan Am Games, Gillies — an outfielder with the San Diego Padres — learned at a young age to turn his disability into an ability.
“I was born this way,” said Gillies, who has a 30% to 35% ability to hear.
“It was definitely harder to participate in sports when I was younger and still learning about my hearing loss,” said Gillies, who was interviewed by e-mail.