NORTH HAVEN, Conn. — It happened at movie theaters and shopping malls and amusement parks. A kind stranger would approach and graciously try to help Nick Newell tie his shoes or put on his jacket.
And then Nick's mother Stacey would tell him or her to buzz off.
"You're not going to be following him around for the next 20 years tying his shoe," she says.
The thought behind that didn't just resonate with Newell. It has defined his entire life. He was born without a left hand — his arm ends just below his elbow — but the word "disability" never was uttered in their Milford, Conn. home.
can't keep him down: Milford, Conn., native Nick Newell was born with just one hand. That hasn't stopped him from winning his first nine MMA matches.
can't keep him down: Milford, Conn., native Nick Newell was born with just one hand. That hasn't stopped him from winning his first nine MMA matches.
Stacey, who raised her son as a single mom, wouldn't allow it.
"All people are born with disadvantages," Newell said. "Mine is just something you can see."
And because people could see it, they judged. They told him he couldn't tie his shoes or learn to ride a bicycle or steer a car. Newell did all those things, and now he's taken proving people wrong to an unheard of level.
An undefeated MMA fighter at 9-0, Newell will step into the cage Saturday against Keon Caldwell at World Series of Fighting 4 in Ontario, Calif. The card will air live at 1 a.m. ET
Sunday on NBC Sports Network.
"There's so many things that I've learned to do that people said I'd never be able to do," Newell said. "It just kind of makes me laugh at this point."
That very well could have been Stacey talking. She says she never treated her son like he wasn't the same as every other kid.
Which is why Newell threw himself into wrestling. Some didn't think he would win a match, yet he became one of the most decorated high school grapplers in Connecticut history, amassing a record 53 wins in a single season and earning all-state honors at Jonathan Law High School.
It wasn't until after wrestling at Western New England University and training at Fighting Arts Academy in Springfield, Mass., that Newell decided on making MMA a profession.
Stacey wasn't happy about the choice. She also never doubted him. Neither did Andrew Calandrelli, who has been training Newell in Brazilian jiu-jitsu since Newell was a teen.
"Nobody ever looked at him as having a disability," said Calandrelli, who runs Ultimate MMA in North Haven. "If they did, they're going to get beaten up."
Newell, 27, made his pro debut in 2009 with a TKO. He knocked out or submitted every opponent except for one en route to winning the XFC lightweight (155 pounds) title in December. His contract expired with that organization and he signed with World Series of Fighting in May.
"With the dedication, the motivation and the discipline it takes to be a fighter, this guy shows the true strength of the human spirit," WSOF president Ray Sefo said.
Newell is more than a fighter, too. He's an inspiration to children with limb differences all over the world, involved with the Lucky Fin Project non-profit that serves kids who were born like him. He has spoken at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and for the Helping Hands Foundation.
It wasn't too long ago Newell was an adolescent idolizing former Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott, who has no right hand. Now he's this generation's Abbott, someone who has overcome adversity to excel as a professional athlete while spreading his accomplishments and mind-set to those who need to hear them.
"You can say, 'Oh, life's not fair,' and complain and think the world owes you something," Newell said. "Or you can suck it up and just work a little bit harder than everyone else to achieve the things you want to achieve."
mraimondi@nypost.com
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