Holly Springs High School student Grant Howard says at the start of every exercise, “…5…4…3…2…1 BAH BAM…Do what you can!” Howard suffered a stroke during the pregnancy of his mother, Jamie Valvano, making getting in shape harder for him due to the cerebral palsy that weakens his left side along with speech issues and more.
I met Howard when my dad, Mark Pitcher, started teaching him in the Special Needs program at West Lake Middle School. Howard has always been an uplifting person, giving multiple motivational speeches to people around him no matter who it was.
Before the creation of “Bah Bam,” it was just Howard and his mother looking for someone to help motivate them. Daniel Ellis was the perfect man for them. Ellis is a personal trainer and motivator who was recommended by another parent of a teenage child with special needs and was perfect at pushing them in the right direction.
Meeting Ellis changed Howard’s life. In his words: “I love Daniel Ellis because he teaches me workouts and is a good trainer. When I exercise I feel healthy, strong and good about myself. He tries to help me hold the position where my body needs to stay. He is patient and cheers me on. He and my mom laugh all the time. Daniel is my friend and I love him so much.”
After working with each other for a while, these three extraordinary people started to work to achieve one goal: to spread motivation and to help people better themselves. With that in mind, they created Bah Bam! Bah Bam! is a group of people who encourage you to post workout videos and share pictures of you living a “Bah Bam Life.” There are five ways to live a Bah Bam! life: “do your best, never give up, love people, be kind, and get healthy.” This is the message that Grant lives by and hopes to inspire people to do what they can.
To support Grant Howard in his journey to spread living a Bah Bam! life, you can buy merchandise at https://jamievalvano.com/shop and post pictures with the hashtag #BahBam! Another way Grant is spreading his message is by donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Bah Bam! items to the Special Olympics of North Carolina. This helps support other children with special needs to train and live a Bah Bam! life.