Man born with a single limb lives an independent life and inspires people to celebrate differences

Tim Mason has been entertaining people online for a while by uploading videos on his TikTok page called @timmycripple. Like every other creator, he uses this platform to share his passions like going to the gym and also posts reaction videos to pop culture moments and trending news online. However, Mason has been using his TikTok and YouTube page to normalize limb differences and disabilities by being authentic and sharing his life as a person who was born with a single limb.

Mason, who is currently in his mid-twenties according to Daily Mail, refuses to let his disability hold him back from achieving great things in life and simply loves to prove people wrong who underestimate him. "I feel like our society is so infiltrated with stereotypes and you look at someone in a wheelchair, and you think, 'Well, they can't do anything,'" Mason told Good Morning America in an interview. "There's so much more behind that person."

Born with only a right arm, Mason's condition is a result of his birth mother getting exposed to a high amount of radiation following the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. He spent some time in a Russian orphanage where people believed that he would never get adopted. However, a now 80-year-old retired charity CEO Virginia Mason read about the little boy and flew to Russia in order to meet him. She eventually adopted little Tim and now the grown-up boy lives in Hartford, Connecticut. He has a job at the Napa Valley Wine Academy.

"I think when a lot of people kind of look at people with disabilities, there's this misconception that it has been a very difficult journey. I never really felt like I had anything holding me back, I hopped around the playgrounds, I had friends, I really didn't feel like I had any issues until I got a bit older," Mason added. "As a young kid, the thing I noticed the most wasn't the kids that reacted to my disabilities or treated me differently. It was the parents."

Ever since then, Mason has taught himself to run, cook, dance, walk his dog and live life independently. He even hits the gym and works out on treadmills with passion. "People think that disabled people cannot exercise, but we can all do it. People don't realize that I'm not just sitting in my room as a triple amputee. I wake up every day and fight on. My independence is the thing I'm most grateful for," he stated.

When he was young, Mason used to rely on prosthetics, a walker and a crutch which helped him get around but he claims that these objects stopped him from being himself. "I really didn't like them, they weren't me. I wanted to be myself without them," he continued, per Daily Mail. His childhood might have gone smoothly but he admits having some struggles in his teen years. "It can be discouraging. But I am here and making it through. I have seen so many positive comments and it means the world to me. I get asked questions like why I was born like this and general questions about my condition," he added.

Despite all the hurdles in his life, Mason is determined to live his life as normally as he can while enjoying his hobbies and passion. With supportive friends and family around him, Mason doesn't pay attention to negative comments any more. Even though he is a winner in other aspects of his life, Mason admits that dating is hard in this generation. "People see disabilities on your online profiles and base you off that. They don't see the powerful person I see," he concluded. Mason continues to inspire others like him with his inspirational and entertaining videos which always display his sense of humor.