Cody Deaner honored with a "sign name" from deaf fan

Cody Deaner recently shared a heartfelt message about a young fan on his Facebook and Instagram pages. Here is his story:

"This is Christopher. And I have a pretty cool story about him.I met Christopher & his family at a Crossfire Wrestling show a number of months ago and wrote a post about how moved I was by Christopher & his brother & their huge smiles despite their circumstances. Christopher is deaf and can only communicate through sign. His brother is confined to a wheelchair. Despite this, they both have contagious smiles.

Last night, Christopher’s father told me Christopher wanted to show me something. His dad asked him, “Who is this Christopher?” Christopher held up his hands and made the sign you see us making in this picture.

I looked at his father for explanation. I wasn’t prepared for what he was going to tell me...
“In sign language, you can either spell someone’s name... OR ... there can be a symbol for your name. BUT, a person who signs has to GIVE YOU your sign name. Christopher has given you this sign name.”
It’s ingenious really. It’s a mix of the rock ‘n roll hand sign I do when I go to the ring & the letter of my first name.

“Now when you meet someone who signs,” his father said, “you can tell them this is your name.”
This completely floored me. To know I made enough of an impression on Christopher that he honoured me with a sign name almost brought me to tears.

I thanked Christopher and his father and insisted we take this picture together. Now when I look at it I can smile seeing Christopher’s smile and feel the honour of being named by this special boy all over again.

I’ve preached this to my fellow independent wrestlers a lot the last few years, and moments like this really bring it into focus... realize that your fans look up to you. Give them your best and you’ll be surprised what they give back to you.

I know last night, I was.

Thank you Christopher. I can’t wait to meet someone else who signs and I can proudly show them my name and tell them about you.

Keep smilin’ buddy.
​
Sincerely,
Cody Deaner"

Cody on Facebook

Cody on Instagram