LOS ANGELES — If you were to walk over to the skatepark in Downey, you might run into a trailblazer: 37-year-old Oscar Loreto Jr.

“You could have told me at 15 that I’d be here, and I wouldn’t believe you,” he said.

Loreto has become a nationally recognized skateboarder, his board and shoes part of the Smithsonian’s collection at the National Museum of American History.

He was born with a congenital birth defect that left him missing his left foot, left hand and four fingers on his right hand.

“When I was a child, this is what I would have to use,” says Loreto while holding up a prosthetic leg. “And every year, this would get replaced."

As a child, he learned that no matter the bumps on the road, he could roll over them on a skateboard.

“I knew I didn’t have to get in line and wait to get picked last, you know, like I did in P.E.,” he said regarding skateboarding.

Now, Loreto is competing all over the country and making appearances at the X Games. He has also become an advocate, serving on the board of USA Skateboarding and the Sheckler Foundation, which, along with the Sandlot Times, put out a model skateboard in Loreto’s name. It sold out.

“I’m the first adaptive Latino pro skateboarder, and that’s cool to say,” he says.

That’s why on the weekends, you’ll often find him mentoring young adaptive skateboarders and other amputees. One of them is 10-year-old Damian Muñoz, who switches between his wheelchair and skateboard. Muñoz now wants to follow in Loreto’s footsteps.

But for kids like Damian to someday go pro, adaptive skateboarding needs more sponsors, contests and fans.

“It’s been a constant motif where we need that support, we need that industry support in order to not let things fizzle out,” says Loreto.

That means he'll keep working on the skateboarding, mentoring and outreach.

“My mother and my sister did a great job in raising me and instilling in me that, 'Just think positive, and whatever you put your mind to you can achieve. And don’t listen to the noise, just walk your path,'" he says.

And whether you walk your path or skate your park, Loreto wants people to remember that what makes us great can sometimes be how we react to the things we lack.

Disclaimer: Loreto also works in the engineering department at Spectrum News.