As we close out the end of the year, there are so many things to be happy with if you are a person with a disability. For the most part we did have success athletic year. However, there can be moments that have a small impact in our world as well as a large impact.

With that being said the two people that have made the biggest impact for people with disabilities have been on the athletic side Tatyana McFaddan and Pete Frates on the social media impact.

First with Tatyana, her accomplishments seem to never stop growing in their achievement and in their design. With all of her winnings, such as the NYC Marathon and Chicago Marathon, what seems to fly under the radar is that she is probably the hardest working athlete in wheelchair sports. Now, I am not saying that others do not train, I am just saying that her results reflect her efforts. You just don’t set personal marks in marathons by luck. However, her greatest feat will probably come in 2015 when she graduates from University of Illinois. Keep up the good work Tatyana.

The second person is someone not that many of us have heard about by name. But this person has done something that will be talked about maybe forever. That is change the social media world. More importantly impact the world in a way that positively affects his world of disability. Pete Frates has ALS since the age 28. He has purposely decided to do everything he can to bring awareness to ALS and to impact research to find a cure. As we all know research costs money. Pete was the person responsible for the ICE Bucket Challenge in which everyone in the world either participated or was made aware of and donated money. These donations tallied over 100 million dollars. Now, say what you want about the social craze that swept the nation, at the end of the day Pete wants to live as long as he can so he can continue to bring awareness to ALS. He has done that and more. Because of this social media phenomena he has set the standard in fund raising and awareness. More importantly, he has educated generations of people on ALS. Hopefully, this education will impact future generations on dealing with this issue.

Yesterday, Pete celebrated his 30^th birthday. Now 100 million dollars is a big feat, but bringing attention to ALS, has cemented his place as one of the top persons with a disability making an impact in this world.

Congratulations Pete! May you have many more birthday celebrations.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/12/28/gillette-stadium-sings-happy-birthday-to-pete-frates-during-patriots-bills-game/