Wheaties is the breakfast of champions, the ad campaign says. For one local teen with challenges, that slogan rings true in more ways than one apparently.
Hunter Norman was selected to appear on a commemorative, limited edition Wheaties box, a press release announced Thursday.
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Norman, who is 15 and from Levittown, lives with Asperger’s Syndrome, but has played baseball since he was five. Norman is pictured in mid-windup in the image mid-right of the Wheaties cereal box.
ShopRite stores across the Northeast will sell the box exclusively following its unveiling Thursday to celebrate the upcoming 2014 Special Olympics USA Games. ShopRite is a Founding Partner of this year’s games, the release stated.
Norman plays for New Jersey’s Special Olympic team. The team is managed by Tony Vlahovic, who has three years of Major League Baseball experience pitching for the Boston Red Sox and had his career cut short by an auto accident.
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The team is preparing for its debut in the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games from June 14-21 in Mercer County, N.J. This is the inaugural year for baseball in the 2014 USA Games
According to his family, having the opportunity to play for Vlahovic, who has Major League experience, has meant the world to Hunter.
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“Baseball is Hunter’s life,” said his mom, Debbie. “He will watch as many games as he possibly can and imitates everything the pros do so he can become a better player.”
“They are so excited to play in the Special Olympics USA Games that many go so far as to sleep in their uniforms. Seeing their teammate on a Wheaties box has inspired them all to compete even harder,” Vlahovic said.
From this forward, Hunter and his teammates are champions no matter the life challenge.
