By: Sharon Aron Baron
Back when Michael Walzer was a 16-year old junior at Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, he loved wearing basketball shoes. Because he was born with cerebral palsy, he had had to enlist the help of relatives and others to complete relatively everyday tasks like putting on shoes as the disease had progressed.
That’s what inspired Walzer, now a college sophomore, to reach out to Nike with a simple question: “Can you help?”
According to USA Today, eventually, Walzer’s letter — which was proliferated across social media in 2012 — ended up in the hands of Nike CEO Mark Parker, who put one of the company’s top sneaker designers on the case.
Tobie Hatfield is officially Nike’s senior director of athlete innovation. Still, he’s also the man who has helped drive a number of the company’s significant sneaker and apparel technology advancements.
That led to Walzer’s trip to Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., where he was greeted by Hatfield and presented the first pair of the Zoom Solider 8 Flyease shoes in the colorway of LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, which he promptly donned just in time to meet James himself.
Author Profile
- Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.
Related
EventsSeptember 19, 2026The Rotary Club of Coral Springs Hosts Wine, Whiskey and Cigar Gala- EventsSeptember 19, 2026Benise Celebrates 25 Years of Spanish Guitar and Dance Sept. 26
- EventsSeptember 19, 2026Broward Animal Care Waives Dog and Cat Adoption Fees Through Sept. 30
- EventsSeptember 18, 2026Chabad Jewish Center Hosts Sukkot Dinner Under the Stars
