Adapting to life with a disability is never easy, and everyone needs to find their own ways of how to cope with limitations and overcome challenges.
But as you might've seen in our previous article, some people can summon the strength for these difficult tasks even in something as simple as a Halloween costume.
So with everything that we've been through this year, we at Bored Panda decided it's time to revisit this wholesome topic and pay tribute to those who choose to celebrate their differences and use them as resources for especially creative costumes.
After all, these folks embody what we all so desperately need right now. Perseverance.
#1 Its My First Halloween As A Double Below The Knee Amputee And My Husband And I Went As Forrest Gump And Lieutenant Dan
Image credits: Happymix
#2 Last Year I Did Several Halloween Costumes And This One Is Honestly One Of My Favorites. I Want To Wear My Skeleton Hand Around All The Time
Image credits: aannggeellll
#3 My Son Is 4 With Cerebral Palsy. Every Year My Wife Builds Him A Costume To Go On His Wheelchair. He's Obsessed With Polar Express So This Year He Went As A Train Engineer
Image credits: G3g3nsch3in
One of the people who has helped Halloween make tremendous leaps in inclusivity is US motivational speaker, comedian, writer, and former Paralympian, Josh Sundquist. Every year, he dresses up in a costume that makes use of his disability. In 2020, he transformed into Baby Groot from Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy.'
Josh said that his main 'addiction' in life is making people laugh. "As addictions go, this is a pretty good one. It has very few side effects. And it's free (other than the annual cost of building a Halloween costume)," he told Bored Panda earlier.
#4 Wheelchair Zombie Escaping The Grave Costume I Made For My Daughter
Image credits: TheLeebobr
#5 My Son Is In A Wheelchair. I Turned It Into BB8 And Took Him To Hollywood Studios. Here Is The BB8chair Build
Image credits: crrude
#6 My Wife Dressed Up As Lara Croft For Halloween. She's An Amputee So She Improvised
Image credits: theschway83
Back in high school, Sundquist didn't want anyone to find out that he was missing a leg, so he wore a prosthesis at all times. However, he eventually became more comfortable with who he is and what he looks like, and his Halloween costumes are a way to celebrate just that.
Sundquist also shared some advice for everyone who's currently struggling with their own problems. "If you're carrying a heavy burden, you have three options: you can hold on a little longer, you can find someone to share the load, or you can decide it's time to let go. All three are equally valid. Wisdom is choosing the best one for this particular moment," he said.
#7 Awesome Pirates Of The Caribbean Wheelchair Costume
Image credits: mista_milla78
#8 Here Is One Of Our Favorite Halloween Costumes
Image credits: mobilitypartnersofhouston
#9 When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Awesome Halloween Costumes
Image credits: joshsundquist
So far, Sundquist has embodied Gingy the Gingerbread Man from Shrek, a flamingo, a foosball player, Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast, Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, the incredibly famous Pixar lamp, and others. We can't wait to see what he has planned for this year.
As for all of you who are still unsure about who or what to dress as for the spooky occasion, I hope these pictures will inspire you not to get rid of your unique attributes when developing your Halloween look but to accentuate them. Good luck!
#10 Brandon's Dad Turned His Wheelchair Into A Tie Fighter For Halloween
Image credits: jawa709
#11 This Girl In My Town Has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, And Her Parents Made Her A Cinderella Carriage Around Her Wheelchair
Image credits: Saragoldeenlv99
#12 Lady Deadpool
Image credits: mscaitlinmichelle
#13 Our First Halloween Costume As A Married Couple
Image credits: joshsundquist
#14 Hooray, I Won The Costume Contest At Work
Image credits: theadamroper
#15 "My Dog Doesn't Bite." Happy Halloween
Image credits: marialexis327
#16 Can Your Friends Do This?
Image credits: joshsundquist
#17 Throwback To Halloween 2016
Image credits: joshsundquist
#18 Oh Snap! Happy Halloween
Image credits: amputay_
#19 Happy Halloween From Aladdin And Abu
Image credits: silas_saga
#20 Turned My Wheelchair Into The Iron Throne For Halloween
Image credits: shehappens
#21 Turned My Son's Wheelchair Into The Millennium Falcon
Image credits: NKHdad
#22 It's So Worth It. Hearing Other Kids After Seeing Caleb In His Costume, Say "That's The Coolest Costume I've Ever Seen"
Image credits: and_she_loved
#23 That's Not Really A Tree. It's A Man Dressed As A Tree. And Get This: That's Not Really Santa! It's A Dog Dressed As Santa
Image credits: joshsundquist
#24 Black Panther Wheelchair Costume
Image credits: AnnArborBuck
#25 Wait, There's A Human Inside That Lamp
Image credits: joshsundquist
#26 My Friend And I Are Both In Wheelchairs So We Did A Mario Kart Group Costume This Halloween
Image credits: shehappens
#27 I Don't Know If It's Held Up After A Full Day Of Teaching, But Here's My Sally Costume
Image credits: mscaitlinmichelle
#28 Simply The Best
Image credits: aannggeellll
#29 Sam Was Single-Minded About What He Wanted To Be This Year For Halloween. He Knew He Wanted To Be A Bunny And The Wheelchair Had To Be A Carrot
Image credits: samvsvwm
#30 I Am Groot
Image credits: joshsundquist
#31 Amputee Halloween Is The Best
Image credits: aannggeellll
#32 Unfortunately Not A Real Harpoon But I Made This One
Image credits: aannggeellll
#33 My Friend Built A Halo Warthog Costume For A Boy In A Wheelchair, Since He Lives At The Hospital And Doesn't Get Out To Play Much
This will make life a whole lot more fun! And tomorrow he's going to be driving it in a parade.
Image credits: SLOTH_POTATO_PIRATE
#34 Ice Cream Costume
Image credits: joshsundquist
#35 Confusing Trick-Or-Treaters With A Posable Skeleton Arm For The Last 2 Years
Image credits: left-shoulder-closed
#36 Lord Vader Is Pleased With Papaws Work On The Tie Fighter Advanced. He Out Did Himself On The Wheelchair Costume This Year
Image credits: Kaydruh
#37 Wheelchair Costume
Image credits: Tempered73
#38 Throwback To 2 Years Ago When I Was The Victim Of A Shark Attack For My First Halloween As An Amputee
Image credits: candice_combdon
#39 Did You Help Your Clients Out With Halloween This Year?
Image credits: sudburypando
#40 Fantastic Use Of His Stand Up Wheelchair
Image credits: De5perad0
#41 Guy In My School Was Confined To A Wheelchair. Great Spirit For His Dressing Up
Image credits: jelinski619
#42 John's Arrowhead Patrick Mahomes' Wheelchair Costume Turned Out Incredible
Image credits: DustinPittman5
#43 3-Year-Old King Bran Stark In Epic Wheelchair Costume
Image credits: michkennedy
#44 Every Year My Wife Makes My Son A Costume For His Wheelchair. This Year He Is Hiro Riding Baymax From The Movie Big Hero 6
Image credits: G3g3nsch3in
#45 Happy Halloween From The Invisible Man
Image credits: fyf_charity
#46 Here’s My Favorite Cheetah Costume On My Cheetah Legs
Image credits: amypurdygurl
#47 I'm Planning On Doing That Version Eventually
Image credits: aannggeellll
#48 My Son Has Cerebral Palsy And Is In A Wheelchair. So My Wife Made Him A Paw Patrol Vehicle For Halloween
Image credits: G3g3nsch3in
#49 My Coworker Is An Amputee. This Was Her Costume
Image credits: Xenon808
#50 Cilindric The German From The Asterix And Obelix
Image credits: marie_sol_peintre