![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/09\/3-1024x683.jpg\")
Sports are another constant in his life. Whether it’s Alabama football, the Tennessee Titans, baseball, basketball, softball, or tennis, Gage follows them all. His visual impairment may keep him from seeing every play unfold, but it certainly hasn’t kept him from becoming an expert on the games he loves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If the game is on,” his family laughed, “he’s listening.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His love of sports eventually led him to Challenger League baseball, where he began playing at just 4 years old after cheering on his older brother, Jake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Being part of a team with the opportunity to build friendships is so important to Gage,” his Mimi said. “It gave him the opportunity to experience the game just like his brother and his friends.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One place that has made an especially meaningful impact on Gage’s life is Horse Play Inc., where he has participated in therapeutic horseback riding for the past 13 years. When he first arrived, horses were something to fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Due to his visual impairment, Gage was terrified of animals,” his Mimi recalled. “The volunteers at Horse Play were so patient and kind.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within just two weeks, the little boy who once feared horses was allowing them to eat from his hand. Over time, Horse Play became much more than horseback riding. Gage learned how to groom and care for the horses while strengthening muscles essential to his mobility and independence. The program combined physical and occupational therapy in a way that simply felt like fun. Along the way, he developed a special friendship with one horse in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Skip needs me, and I need him,” Gage often says. “We help each other.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n That same determination has carried him through some of life’s greatest challenges. At just 13 years old, Gage underwent two major surgeries related to his cerebral palsy. Following the first procedure, doctors explained it could take as long as six weeks before he walked independently again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was walking unassisted in just three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only months later, he underwent another extensive surgery that involved reconstructing his foot, breaking and resetting 19 bones, repositioning his heel, and lengthening tendons and ligaments. After spending six weeks in full-leg casts, his family expected the recovery process to be difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, Gage surprised them once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “When the casts were removed,” his Mimi said, “his first question was, ‘Can I try out for the track team?'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the assistance of a side runner because of his visual impairment, Gage proudly competed alongside his classmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Gage has a love of people, experiences, and life in general,” his Mimi shared. “He never sees an obstacle as anything other than an opportunity to overcome it. Gage believes that he can do anything his typical peers are doing. Yes, he may require modifications, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching his goals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gage\u2019s Mimi said, \u201cBehind every milestone stands a village of people who have encouraged and prayed for him along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His family credits teachers, one-on-one aides, therapists, physicians, church mentors, and countless friends for believing in Gage and helping him continue reaching new goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, if you ask them what they hope people remember most, it isn’t the surgeries, the diagnoses, or even the accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I would love for everyone to see the world with Gage’s heart,” they shared. “Lead with love and kindness toward everyone. Do not put limitations on yourself or let anyone else, regardless of your diagnoses.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a lesson Gage lives every single day. In his own words, “I can do it.” Time and time again, he’s proven exactly that. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some people measure life by the obstacles they face. Gage Clark-Martin measures it by the opportunities ahead. Born with cerebral palsy, cortical vision impairment that left him legally blind, epilepsy, and other medical diagnoses, Gage entered the world with doctors preparing his family for the possibility of a life filled with limitations. Yet from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":25776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[75,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-franklin-county","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/09\/2-1024x683.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/franklin-county\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/09\/1-1024x683.jpg\")