Connor Doran

Amy Doran walked onto the gymnasium floor at an elementary school on a Friday morning.  “I’m here to share a story.”  The story was about her son, Connor, and his dream to appear on America’s Got Talent back in 2010.  He wanted to show America his indoor kites, but she hemmed and hawed, trying to push him off.  Connor has epilepsy, and Amy was nervous about all the things that could go wrong chasing this dream.  He was insistent and eventually his mother gave in.  She sent his video to NBC studios.  Producers proclaimed him “stellar”, inviting him to audition in Portland, Oregon. 

Flying a kite requires wind and a lot of space outdoors.  So, how does this happen indoors?  Amy told the students, “instead of flying with the wind, these kites fly with movement.”  Connor blew away the judges on America’s Got Talent.  The kite sailed up and down, over and around, to his elegant and musical movements.  It was art, like a dance.  A unanimous “yes” vote sent him to the next round in Las Vegas. 

When Connor was eventually eliminated in Las Vegas, he had already received an invitation to fly his kites at the Washington Mall in Washington, DC for 8,000 people.  This dream snowballed, becoming bigger and bigger.  And then the producers of the show called again, inviting Connor and his mom back for the wild card round.  He placed 12^th in a field of 90,000.  And for the last five years, he has been traveling all over the United States and Canada, spreading awareness of epilepsy, encouraging people to follow their dreams, and flying his kites.

Over 125,000 Americans are diagnosed with epilepsy each year.  Epilepsy is a group of disorders of the nervous system, marked by recurrent seizures (http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/).  Connor was diagnosed at the age of 4, having 30-40 seizures a day.  Amy explained epilepsy and its attending seizures to the students, saying that “the brain gets too busy and it takes a break.  It needs to reboot.”  With medication, Connor has been seizure-free for five years.

Their Dare to Dream Program takes them many places, sharing their story of resilience and hope.  “If you have a dream, do it.  Don’t let anyone say you can’t.  Be nice to yourself and work hard.”  Amy told them to be determined in the face of naysayers, saying she learned by watching Connor’s resolve in the face of her “no”.

The elementary students were moved by the connection Connor has with his Revolution quad-line indoor kite.  The performance brought smiles of awe.  But Connor, having achieved a dream, wanted the children to know that it is okay to have more than one dream - and to continue to chase others, even when some have been realized.

Connor can also be found at connordoran.com.