Anthony Ferraro
 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikihoc's general notability guideline. |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 24, 1995 |
| Occupation(s) | Judoka, motivational speaker, skateboarder, musician, content creator |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | Judo, skateboarding |
| Club | Team USA |
Anthony S. Ferraro (born March 24, 1995) is an American Team USA judo athlete, motivational speaker, adaptive skateboarder, musician, and content creator. He advocates for accessibility and blindness awareness though his social media content, lifestyle and motivational speaking. He currently resides in Monmouth County, New Jersey with his wife, daughter and dog.
Ferraro is the subject of the 2017 documentary film A Shot in the Dark. The film follows his journey as a competitive blind high school wrestler.
Ferraro's content centers on his experiences with blindness, advocating for accessibility, music, sports, adaptive technologies, and fatherhood as he creates short videos about his daily live and activities.[1]
Early life and education
Ferraro was born in Spring Lake, New Jersey. He was born with a degenerative eye condition called Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a rare genetic condition causing progressive vision loss.[2]
He attended the Saint Lucy Day School for Children with Visual Impairments in Philadelphia until 6th grade. He entered H. W Mountz Elementary School where he first transitioned into mainstream education. Anthony attended Saint John Vianney High School in Holmdel, New Jersey, where he began wrestling competitively against sighted athletes.[3]
Ferraro's senior wrestling season became the focus of the documentary A Shot in the Dark, filmed by his late brother, Oliver Ferraro.[4]
Wrestling career
Ferraro gained national attention as a competitive blind wrestler in high school.[5] Graduating high school with 122 wins. His matches, training, and pursuit of a state championship were documented in the 2017 documentary film A Shot in the Dark.[6]
Judo career
After high school, Ferraro began training with USA Judo. He has competed in national and international tournaments and hopes to eventually represent the United States in the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.[7][8]
He has shared his experiences with young athletes and sports organizations across the country.[9]
Adaptive skateboarding
Ferraro is active within the adaptive skateboarding community. He traveled to the Olympic Games in Paris, France in August 2024 to participate in an adaptive skateboarding demo on the Olympic course. He has participated in Dew Tour & Rockstar Energy Open adaptive events, STU Pro Tour in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in 2024, and other skateboarding competitions across the United States.[10]
He has been a prominent figure in adaptive skateboarding and advocates for the sport's inclusion in the Paralympics.[11][12]
Documentary: A Shot in the Dark
Ferraro is the subject of the documentary A Shot in the Dark, filmed by his late brother Oliver Ferraro and completed after Oliver’s passing. The film chronicles Anthony’s pursuit of a state wrestling title.[13] In the winter of 2012, Director Chris Suchorsky received an email from a former teammate and All-American wrestler, Lou Cerchio. He had come across a sizzle reel about a blind high school wrestler named Anthony Ferraro. Ollie, Anthony’s brother, had posted the sizzle with the hope of finding some help. He was looking to make a film about his little brother, who was a star wrestler, but also happened to be blind. Chris reached out to Ollie to discuss the project. To his surprise, he was now living in LA working as an editor for Hulu and had essentially abandoned the idea. A few months later, when he returned home to visit family, we met for lunch and discussed the film. Ollie was interested in making a short, but Chris thought there was potential for a feature film. After meeting with Anthony, we decided we would film him over his senior year of high school and “see what happens”.
A few months later, we were filming. Ollie produced from LA while the crew and Chris followed Anthony and his team throughout the 2012-2013 season. By the end of the year, the film had hit a standstill. Both Ollie and Chris were consumed with other projects. Chris believed there was a story in the can, but knew it was going to be a Herculean task to put a film together. By 2015, Chris decided he wanted to finish the film. Chris had the first 15 minutes edited and had planned to sit down with Ollie to look at what he put together. Sadly, a few days later, Ollie passed away. At his funeral, Chris told Anthony he would finish the film. Two years later, they had a rough cut of the film. The team launched a Kickstarter campaign with the hope of reaching $40,000. They hit that number in four days and raised over $83,000 by the end of the campaign. The film premiered at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and went on to win eight Best Documentary and Audience Awards over the next year on the festival circuit. We received a number offers for the film including Soul Pancake (Rainn Wilson’s company), Chassy Media (Adam Carolla’s company) and Gravitas Ventures. We opted to release the film independently.
Content creation and online presence
Ferraro is widely recognized for his videos about blindness, adaptive sports, accessibility tools, and daily life as a blind parent. His content has gone viral repeatedly, leading to coverage from outlets including People, Today, USA Today, Newsweek, Glamour, and the New York Post.[14] His storytelling, demonstrations of adaptive techniques, motivational and family-centered content have contributed to his online reach.
Speaking and media appearances
Ferraro is a motivational speaker, and regularly speaks at schools, companies, athletic programs, and disability organizations on topics including resilience, accessibility, and inclusion.[15][16]
He has appeared on CBS Sports’ Beyond Limits, the BBC, FOX affiliates, BuzzFeed, and TPGI’s Real People, Real Stories.[17]
Personal life
Ferraro is married to Kelly Anne Walborn Ferraro. The couple gained widespread international media attention in 2021 when Kelly surprised him with a tactile wedding dress designed with textured elements so he could experience the details through touch.[18][19]
Ferraro and his wife have one daughter, born in 2023. The family resides in Monmouth County, New Jersey, along with his dog, Delta.
Filmography
Documentary
- A Shot in the Dark (2017)
References
- ↑ "Blind dad adds braille to baby books in order to read to daughter | New York Post". 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
- ↑ "Blind high school wrestler takes 'A Shot in the Dark'". ESPN. 2013. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Wrestling the Odds: Anthony Ferraro". NJ.com. December 2013. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "A Shot in the Dark film to tell story of blind wrestler". FloWrestling. 2013. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "ESPN.com - Blind wrestler inspires". www.espn.com. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
- ↑ "Blind NJ wrestler stars in new documentary". Asbury Park Press. 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Anthony Ferraro takes a shot in the dark again, this time judo". Asbury Park Press. 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Anthony Ferraro – Team USA profile". Team USA. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Paralympic judo athlete shares inspiring story". FOX43. 2021. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Men's Adaptive Street Highlights – Dew Tour". Dew Tour. 2022. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Blind skateboarder pushing inclusivity in action sports". Forbes. 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "How blind skaters are shaping adaptive skateboarding". TransWorld Skateboarding. 2023. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Blind high school wrestler takes 'A Shot in the Dark'". ESPN. 2013. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Blind dad adds braille to baby books so he can read to daughter". Daily Express US. 2024. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Blind pro athlete to speak on overcoming adversity". PhillyVoice. 2022. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Brielle students encouraged to pursue their dreams". Star News Group. 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Bride surprises blind groom wearing tactile wedding dress". Today. 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Bride wore a textured wedding gown so her blind husband could 'feel her beauty'". Glamour. October 2021. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ "Bride marries blind husband wearing tactile wedding dress". USA Today. 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
External links
This article "Anthony Ferraro" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.