U.S. Paralympian Josh Sundquist is the talk of social media after posting his creative and playful costumes online – costumes he says celebrate what makes him different.
“I used to be pretty self-conscious,” Sundquist, a former ski racer, wrote on his blog. “In high school I wore prosthesis all the time and didn’t want anyone to find out I was missing a leg. But now I’m more at ease with who I am and what I look like, and I guess with these Halloween costumes you could even say that I celebrate what makes me different. Which may be either weird or refreshing, depending on your perspective.”
READ MORE: 11 pop-culture DIY Halloween costume ideas for 2016
This year Sundquist will be Lumière, the beloved candelabra featured in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast – or as Sundquist refers to him, “Disney’s most famous monopod.”
“I’ve always wanted to try this costume,” he wrote. “And as you probably know, there’s a live-action Beauty and the Beast coming out next year. It’s unclear from the photos I’ve seen if Lumière will still be a hopping monopod or if the new Lumière will have bipedal locomotion. If the new movie changes the way we imagine Lumière, this could be the final Halloween in which I could dress like him. So it had to be Lumière in 2016.”
Last year, Sundquist was an IHOP sign, a foosball pawn in 2014, a flamingo in 2013, the famous “leg lamp” from A Christmas Story in 2012 and a partially eaten gingerbread man in 2010.
Sundquist says he and his assistant Lisa McLaughlin begin brainstorming ideas months in advance, leaving enough time to construct the sometimes complicated costumes.
But Sunquist wasn’t always a Halloween fanatic.
Citing religious reasons for not celebrating the event growing up, the athlete didn’t wear his first Halloween costume until he was in college.
“So it’s a funny twist of life that my Halloween costumes will probably be the most visible thing I ever do,” he writes. “Like, no matter how many motivational speeches I give or books I write or YouTube videos I upload, it’s unlikely they’ll reach a fraction of the amount of people who have seen my costumes in the past few years.”
READ MORE: Halloween a peak time for Pinterest fails
As it turns out, he may be right. Since posting his Lumière costume to his social media accounts, people can’t stop talking about Sundquist’s costumes.
“Yes,” wrote maddyb404 on his Instagram. “I don’t even know what to do with myself. Just yes.”
“My friends and I are going to be Disney princesses this year,” wrote anniekhall. “You would TOTALLY boost our cool factor!”
However, don’t expect to see Sundquist dressed as any amputee clichés like a shark attack victim or pirate, he says.
“I look for costume ideas that represent a creative twist on my situation, ideally something only I am able to dress as because of the unique shape of my body,” Sundquist says. “Here’s the thing… I don’t want to dress as an amputee. I’m already an amputee 364 days per year. I don’t need a costume for that. Halloween is the day I can be something else.”
Sundquist was a part of the U.S. Paralympic ski team for the 2006 Paralympics in Turino, Italy. He is now a member of the U.S. Amputee Soccer Team, a motivational speaker, author and YouTube personality.
Comments