LOOK: Filipino special olympian is on Humans of New York

MANILA, Philippines – Humans of New York (HONY) photographer Brandon Stanton has turned his lens to the Special Olympics World Games 2019 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and as usual, he’s been sharing some pretty inspiring microstories of the humans that he encounters.

Among them is 20-year-old Filipino Eduardo Munarriz, who is set to compete in several powerlifting events on Wednesday, March 20.

The young athlete shared with HONY that he gets his inspiration from “20 superheroes” that he keeps in a folder in his phone.

“I take it out to look at them, and I pretend that I am the leader of an entire superhero team. The whole team is counting on me to get as strong as possible because I am the muscle of the team,” he shared.

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“I have twenty superheroes that I keep in a folder on my phone and I take it out to look at them, and I pretend that I am the leader of an entire superhero team. The whole team is counting on me to get as strong as possible because I am the muscle of the team. Being the biggest is like a way to take charge. It doesn’t even matter if I have super powers because I can use my own true strength, and the barbell is like a type of weapon. It’s important as a leader to always listen to your team. Our whole team decided together that friendship is more important than winning. Nobody will be mad at me if I lose. They don’t care if I bring home a medal. My family and my friends and Coach John and everyone in the Philippines will be proud of me even just for lifting weights.” (Special Olympics World Games, Abu Dhabi, UAE)

A post shared by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Mar 17, 2019 at 10:34am PDT

Eduardo said that whether or not he wins on March 20, he knows he will still make people proud.

“Our whole team decided together that friendship is more important than winning. Nobody will be mad at me if I lose. They don’t care if I bring home a medal. My family and my friends and Coach John and everyone in the Philippines will be proud of me even just for lifting weights,” he shared.

HONY’s Special Olympics series also includes portraits of athletes from other countries, including the first female athletes to represent Saudi Arabia at the games.

HONY is a street photography project that started in New York City in 2010. The project features mostly portraits of people, accompanied by snippets of interviews with them. The format has since been replicated by photographers in other countries, and Brandon himself has gone abroad on occasion to take photos for HONY. The project has also since expanded to include a documentary series on Facebook in August 2018. – Rappler.com