Rubén Roldán Bustos, a one legged parkour athlete from Spain, brought the entire audience and all four judges to their feet on America’s Got Talent Season 21 auditions with an incredible performance that earned him the Golden Buzzer from Simon Cowell.
23-year-old Rubén Roldán Bustos from Spain walked out onto the AGT stage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium during Season 21 auditions wearing long pants and looking a little nervous. He brought a friend along to translate his Spanish.
When the judges asked what his dream was his friend said “His dream is to be here trying to inspire people and traveling around the world doing parkour.”
The Audition That Stopped Everyone Cold
Then Rubén pulled off his pant leg and the crowd went silent. Nobody in that auditorium expected this. The young man reached down and removed his prosthetic leg and handed it to his friend. He then walked out the side door of the theater on one leg.
The judges and the audience looked at each other not knowing what was happening. Then they saw something on the big screen on the stage that left them completely speechless.
He ran. He vaulted over concrete barriers. He balanced across narrow railings and flew back through those theater doors. On stage he swung from bar to bar, crossed wide gaps and landed on narrow platforms on one foot. He finished with a clean flip onto the stage floor.
Simon Cowell Hits the Golden Buzzer
Every single person in that building stood up. Sofia Vergara called it “espectacular.” Simon Cowell looked at Rubén and said “That was bloody fantastic” and told him how much he respected his talent and his courage. Then Simon leaned over and hit the Golden Buzzer.
Gold confetti poured down from the ceiling. Rubén jumped right into his friend’s arms completely overwhelmed. Simon walked up and hugged him and said “Many many congratulations. You really deserve that.” Backstage Rubén told host Terry Crews “I don’t know where we are now!”
The Story Behind This Inspiring Young Man
What most people did not know sitting in that auditorium is that Rubén lost his leg when he was just nine years old. He was in the countryside near his village and got caught in tractor machinery.
The injuries were so severe that doctors had no choice but to amputate his left leg above the knee. That is something no child should ever have to go through.
Most people would have walked away from sports after something like that. Rubén found parkour instead. He went out into the streets of his little village and started training on his own.
He learned how to run, jump, vault and balance using only his right leg. He worked so hard and so long that he eventually broke three Guinness World Records in adaptive parkour including the farthest standing jump parkour dash. We serve a God who does not waste our pain.
The Friend Who Stood By Him
Something else touched people’s hearts that day. Rubén did not walk onto that stage alone. His friend stood right beside him through the whole thing, translating his words, holding his prosthetic and cheering him on. Many people who watched commented on how much that friendship meant.
We all need a person like Rubén’s friend in our lives who stands with us in our highs and lows. And such friendships are truly a gift from God and not everybody gets one.
We often stare at our limitations rather than thinking about what we can do. This young man is standing as a living testimony to each one of us. He lost his leg at a very young age but he did not sit back and feel sorry for himself.
Today Rubén Roldán Bustos is inspiring the whole world with the very thing that challenged his dreams.
Let us leave all our limitations and weaknesses in our Lord’s hands because He is the one who turns our broken places into our greatest strengths.
Let us stop hiding and start using the unique gifts God has placed inside each one of us.
WATCH: Rubén Roldán Bustos Steals the Show and Earns Golden Buzzer
