Is this the world's most inspiring teenager?

Sometimes a child does something so selfless and brave that it makes you ashamed of your inertia as an adult.

Thirteen-year-old Michael Stolzenberg is a moving example. He's a quadruple amputee who lost his hands and feet after a bacterial infection when he was 8. Undaunted, he has created a charity called Mikey's Run with his brother, Harris (pictured above),  to raise $1 million for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing victims.

“If you try your hardest, you can do it. It only takes one person to make a huge difference,” he told the TODAY show this week. “Just find the right people to help you and you can make a bigger impact than you ever expected.

"After the Boston Marathon bombings, we wanted to do something to help because there are going to be a lot of new amputees, and just like after our community rallied around Michael, we wanted to do something to help them," Harris told The Sun Sentinel.

He said they were inspired by how friends and family helped raise the money for Michael's prosthetics when he needed them. "The prostheses he needed cost thousands of dollars, which we wouldn't have been able to afford without that support," he added.

Michael hasn't let his disability hold him back. While he no longer quarterbacks on his youth football team, he says he can "throw the football in a pretty tight spiral" using a two-armed motion to grip and sling the ball. And he plays lacrosse competitively at his school.

"He has an upbeat perception of life," says his lacrosse coach, Doug Shanahan. "He does well because he does not think he's handicapped."

Among those inspired by Michael's courage is Oprah Winfrey, who has donated $100,000 to his charity.

"When he learned that so many victims of the Boston Marathon bombing would become new amputees, Michael decided to banish that darkness with light," she announced during a Harvard University Commencement address.

"In losing who he once was, Michael discovered who he wanted to be," she commended. "He refused to sit in that wheelchair all day and feel sorry for himself.”

Want to help Mikey ? There's two things you can do right now.

 

You could make a donation right to Mikey's Run  here and you can SHARE his (by clicking those big shinny buttons right below) to let you friends know about this amazing kid.