Paulding Teen With Cerebral Palsy Pushes Inclusion Through Grandma, TikTok And Kickball

PAULDING COUNTY, GA — A Paulding County teen with cerebral palsy and his grandmother launched a TikTok channel in 2020 during COVID-19 lockdowns. Now, they have almost half a million followers, nearly 10 million likes on their videos and a little bit of "fame" around the teen's high school.

Logan, 17, and his grandma, Paulette "Boo" Echols, use their TikTok channel, Logan and Boo, to teach people about inclusion and accepting others regardless of ability.

The South Paulding High School student has gone viral on TikTok several times, turning himself into a celebrity of sorts at the school, his grandma told 11Alive.

"What is there not to admire?" she said to the news outlet. "His zest for life. He gets up every day and no matter what he has to face, he's going to conquer it every day, every day."

Logan asked his grandma to help him start the TikTok channel during COVID-19 lockdowns, because many people with disabilities — most of whom were considered the most at risk for COVID-19 infection — felt alone.

"He wanted to share the fact that cerebral palsy is simply just a word," she told 11Alive. "And nothing can stop him or any of these kids here or anywhere else."

Logan also shared his love for kickball on TikTok, and a Paulding County firefighter took notice. He asked Boo if their department could challenge the teen and the students in his class to a kickball match on Feb. 16.

"It was supposed to be just a small thing, but thanks to TikTok and social media, it exploded and it's been a great deal of fun for all of us," firefighter Joe Sarber told 11Alive.

In one of Logan and Boo's TikTok video posted Jan. 26, firefighters showed up to Logan's house with truck sirens blaring, and challenged him and his friends to a kickball match.

His response?

"Yeah bring it on baby! We'll take all of y'all!" he yelled in the video, with a huge smile on his face.

He later told the firefighters they "need to get their kicking legs ready" in another video — he took the kickball match very seriously, his grandma said.

Both teams created T-shirts, stickers, medals and posters for the game. Sarber even stickered up Logan's classroom, bus and house with fire department stickers leading up to the match — which were, of course, posted to Logan and Boo's TikTok channel.

The whole school got in on it, with dozens of videos posted back and forth between the fire department and Logan. Videos of the actual match surpassed 70,000 views on TikTok, too.

Logan and his classmates really did "take all of y'all," as he said to the fire department. South Paulding High School Spartans won the game with 24 points, while the Paulding County Fire Department had 20 points.

You could hear and see dozens of people in the stands cheering Logan's and his teammates' names in a Feb. 16 TikTok video. The Paulding County School District even posted a video on Facebook of the kids celebrating their victory.

"Don't ever give up. If you have a dream, don't let somebody tell you that you can't do it — ever," his grandma told 11Alive.