Patrick Henry Hughes was born with far more challenges to face than the average child, but he never let this hold him back from achieving his dreams.

Patrick was born without eyes, and he also did not have the ability to strengthen his arms and legs. On top of that, he had to get two steel rods surgically attached to his spine to correct severe scoliosis. After his birth, doctors warned his parents that he likely would never be able to walk.

“It took days for all of the information and then eventually even weeks for all of the information to come in about Patrick. We still had to play the waiting game, because we didn’t know how he was going to develop mentally,” said Patrick’s father, Patrick John. “I remember many times thinking, ‘God, why us?’ You go through a period of anger, denial and rage.”

Thanks to the love of his parents, however, Patrick was able to overcome these obstacles to accomplish a lot in life. When Patrick was just 6 weeks-old, his father discovered that his son would stop crying if he played classical music on the piano. When Patrick was only 9 months-old, he started playing piano himself in his highchair.

“It just fit perfectly at that piano so that Patrick’s little knees would go underneath where the keyboard sits,” Patrick John said. “I put him there and played. I found three notes at random, and nine months old, he found those three notes and played them back to me in succession. I was blown away. Every day we would sit at the piano, I’d play his nursery rhyme songs or we’d do little listen and play exercises.”

By the time he was 2, Patrick could play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “You Are My Sunshine.” Over the years, Patrick became an incredibly talented pianist, and he later took up the trumpet as well! This new skill allowed him to join the marching band at his school. His father helps Patrick participate in the marches.

Patrick joked that his father “does a pretty good job” and “typically doesn’t mess up too much.”

“He hasn’t dumped me over yet, and we haven’t take out any musicians,” he said. “So everything’s good so far.”

Patrick himself has said that his Christian faith has helped to get him through the tough times in life.

“My faith has sustained me,” he said. “I think there are some days that have been a little stressing, but whenever I have those feelings and I really think there’s no way I can get out of them, I just turn to God and say a little prayer. ‘Lord, give me strength to get me through this.’”

Despite everything that he has faced in life, Patrick has always maintained a positive attitude.

“I mean, God made me blind and didn’t give me the ability to walk. I mean, big deal,” he said. “He gave me the talent to play piano and trumpet and all that good stuff.”

We could all learn a lot from this brilliant young man! Find out more about him in the video below!