PUEBLO — One boy in Pueblo West just wants to play ball, despite his disability.
"I had this disorder called Congenital Pseudarthrosis,” said Hayden Morton, describing the rare bone disorder that caused him to have a fractured Fibula at birth.
At nine years old, Morton made the decision to have part of his left leg amputated.
“I thought it was the best idea. I still do! I still feel like it was the best idea, the only thing that I regret is not doing it sooner.”
Since his amputation, Morton has had three more fractures. The most recent injury left him in a wheelchair for this summer season.
“The kids in his Spring league, most of them are playing in the summer league because they want to play with him!“ said Scott, Morton's dad.
This season, instead of playing, Morton is helping his dad coach the players. He picks the weekly lineups for the Friday games and yells words of encouragement to his teammates from the dugout during Tuesday practices.
However, this season could also be Morton's last.
The Pueblo West Parks and Recreation does not offer a league for kids older than 12 years old. They said they have tried previously to offer leagues up to 14 years old, but they never got much traction.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of interest with the older kids cause they do tend to move on to more competitive sports,“ said Kurt Long, the Sports Coordinator for Pueblo West Parks and Recreation. They did say they would happily consider it.
“If we see it’s a community need, absolutely we will offer older age groups and that is something we would consider”
If you know anyone 13 years or older who may want to play through Pueblo West Parks and Rec, please let them know here and hopefully Morton will have a league to play in next year.
