Sean “Mitoman” Loughlin has put an immense amount of work to get to the American Ninja Warrior stage, and his story continues to inspire and empower us all.
Originally from Boonsboro, Maryland, the 15-year-old lives with mitochondrial disease, a condition that limits his body’s ability to produce energy at the cellular level. Unable to consume food by mouth, he is connected to a feeding tube 20 hours a day. In fact, the only time he is disconnected from his pump is when he is training for ANW.
“Because I get to do ninja, it makes my life 100 times better,” Loughlin says in the clip.
Because of his condition, Loughlin can not train like other kids can, but it does not stop him from working as hard, if not more. “It’s just incredible that he can do this stuff,” his mother Christine says. “I’m so proud of him.”
In the clip, we watch as Loughlin takes off his feeding pump, and takes to the course. His family and friends from all across the East Coast watch in support, whether it be in the audience or virtually. At just 5’1 and 94 pounds, he is the lightest contestant of the night.
Loughlin breezes through the Shrinking Steps and new returning obstacle, Rollercoaster, with ease. Loughlin has a small slip at the end of tackling the Domino Effect—which could have spelled disaster—but the ninja handles the minor set back with ease. However, it’s when Loughlin reaches obstacle five, the dreaded Wall to Wall, that he starts to experience trouble when his smaller frame proves to be a disadvantage. Despite struggling to get the wall the lock, Loughlin does not give up. He powers through, eventually making his was to the final obstacle: the Warped Wall.
With only 14.5 feet standing in between Loughlin and the buzzer, the crowd is exuberant. “Beat that wall,” the audience chants as Loughlin takes a second to prepare. On his first attempt he barely touches the top, but that does not deter him. After his second attempt, it’s clear that the task is weighing on Loughlin, but he refuses to give up. With one attempt left, Matt Iseman takes a moment to encourage the crowd to cheer louder. “Let him hear it, folks,” he roars into the microphone and the audience responds accordingly.
As Loughlin takes his final attempt, the crowd falls to a hush just before he reaches the top. Making it over the wall, he hits the buzzer at 3:15.60 and it’s thrilling! The audience jumps to their feet. When asked if he was ever concerned throughout the course, Loughlin says: “No. Never planned on giving up. Always gonna give it my all.”
Tune in tonight to American Ninja Warrior at 9/8c on NBC to see more ninjas share their incredible stories.
