Many are familiar with the challenges on the pathway toward earning Eagle, but some Scouts face additional challenges as they work toward this Scouting goal. For Alex L. of the Boy Scouts of America Sequoyah Council, being born with a congenital heart defect could have meant a life of being held back by his disease, but Alex is a Scout, and a Scout is brave.

Refusing to let his health challenges stop him, Alex dove into Boy Scouts and completed a series of tough Scouting activities like hiking more than 200 miles along the Appalachian Trail, sailing on the Sea of Abaco, and, like more than a million Scouts before him, hiking more than 100 miles of trails at Philmont Scout Ranch.

All the while, Alex had in mind that he also wanted to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. Like the rest of his Scouting experiences, he knew his Eagle project would come with challenges, but he forged ahead to complete it.

His project was a mountain biking information kiosk and bike rack built near a trail at the Bays Mountain Park in his community. This offers residents of the community great information about the mountain biking trails and a place to park their bikes.

“It’s getting used fairly well,” he said. “It should get highly used during the summer, so that’s how it benefits the community.”

Upon completion of his Eagle Scout project, Alex remained involved in Scouting and went on to earn a Bronze Palm.

“Scouting is like the best thing to develop a kid,” he said. “It allows him to set goals and work toward a really big honor, which is getting Eagle Scout.”

To read more about how Alex overcame health challenges to have a fulfilling Scouting experience, read the full article in the Kingsport Tennessee Times News.

To learn more about the positive impact that Scouting can have on young people like Alex, be sure to check out this article on the recent Tufts study, and watch this video: