BLOOMINGDALE, GA (WTOC) - One Bloomingdale young man has always had a love for the game of baseball, despite the health challenges he's faced.
Carson Lane, 11, was raised in a house with four brothers and a family that is all about sports, but from the day he was born, his parents were afraid things might be different.
"The doctor told me—he flat out said, 'You're lucky he's alive,'" said Jamie Lane, Carson's mother.
Carson was born with Herbs Palsy. The nerves in his shoulder were torn in half during birth, leaving his left arm paralyzed.
After four surgeries, he's now regained about 40 to 50 percent use of that arm. And it turns out part of his healing and growth has come from playing baseball, even in the hospital.
"And we annoyed so many people for so long, but if I could get him to use his arm in any way, I would get him to hit off a plastic tee. And he didn't realize he was doing physical therapy, but he was using that left arm," said Jamie Lane.
Carson hasn't looked back since.
He's adapted a system with unorthodox mechanics. But that hasn't stopped him from playing ball on several school, travel, and community teams since the age of five.
Ken Lane, Carson's dad, said, "It takes a lot of teams a while to figure out he even does anything different. I mean he does it so seamlessly."
To the point that he keeps up, and even performs better than a lot of other kids with his switch up style of catching and throwing.
A style that's now second-nature to him.
"I really don't understand how other people do it now. Like it just became natural," Carson said.
Natural in the same way it was for one of Carson's role models, Jim Abbott. A former professional baseball player born with one hand. And though his mom wants him to go to college first, of course, Carson's ultimate dream is to play in Major League Baseball, too, just like Abbott.
"I'm more proud of his work ethic and the fact that he doesn't give up and has a no-quit attitude. That's what you hear about him. He can play, but you hear more about his heart than anything else," said Ken Lane.
With a heart like that, his family says no dream is too far afield for Carson.