The Gabby Douglas Story

You want to know how to become a champion?

It's easy.

Turn your dream into your goal.

Plant it deep in your heart,

then for the next 10 years,

eat, sleep, breathe, laugh, and cry

without ever taking your eye off your goal.

Not even for a second.

You want to know how to stop becoming a champion?

I actually tried that once.

Believe it or not,

that was a lot harder.

She's still bleeding.

- Pulse ox 178. - Let me see her!

- Doctor. Blood pressure. - Let me see her.

- Take the baby out of here. - Right away, Doctor.

No, why can't I see the baby?

My mom nearly died the day I was born.

The way I heard it later,

it was a collision course of everything going wrong at the same time.

Tim, go with her! Don't leave the baby alone!

But even then, she wasn't thinking about herself.

- You're gonna be fine. - What's wrong with her?

Why can't I see my baby?

Why can't I see the baby? Why can't I see her?

It's called branched-chain ketoaciduria.

It's a rare blood deficiency.

Tell me what that means.

It's a metabolic disorder.

A deficiency of the branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex,

which catalyzes the catabolism

of the branched-chain amino acids...

These are all just fancy words for,

"We don't know how to fix"

"what's wrong with your baby."

All right, should be just up ahead.

Mom thought a new city would help my dad find a job.

But by the time we got to Tulsa, the landlord had given our place away.

He kept our down payment, too.

And we had so many eviction judgments against us, no one else would rent to us.

- How soon? - By tomorrow.

Check out by noon at the latest.

We got him to give us an extra hour.

Did you tell him we have four kids?

Yeah, he knows.

Look, why don't you call your mother...

I'm not gonna call her again.

We've done this enough to her and to the rest of my family.

They don't need to know it's gotten this bad again.

All right, baby.

Hey, honey.

Stop jumping on the bed, sweetie.

Stop jumping on the bed. Sit down.

Gabrielle's getting better, isn't she?

Yes, she is getting better.

- Mom? - Yes?

How come we had to leave again?

Daddy's not working.

But this is kind of like camping.

If we're camping, then where are the tents?

Don't worry. Everything's gonna be okay.

Why don't you try to get some sleep?

It's too cold.

Come on. Come here.

Let's get you warmed up

and get you thinking about other things.

Let me hear you say your prayer.

Heavenly Father...

We thank you for all of your many blessings,

and thank you for watching over us and giving us sweet and peaceful sleep.

- Amen. - Amen.

Very good.

Oh, I love you, sweetie.

You told me last week I was...

What did he say?

He said they can't lend me any more money.

It's not what he told me last week.

You know, Nat, I should've never have asked.

I don't need to sink to that level.

You know, I still got my pride.

I just got to wait for my ship to come in.

That's all.

I'm calling my mom.

I thought we weren't gonna crash at your mom's house.

We're not.

I am with the kids.

What?

I can't do this anymore.

You don't mean that, Natalie.

I'm gonna get on my feet. You know that.

We don't have money for gas.

And when the kids wake up, what are we gonna feed them?

We'll find something.

You know, we'll go on assistance until I can get...

No, no, no, no. Don't talk to me about food stamps.

That's one thing I will never do.

I'm just tired of promises that don't come true.

Natalie, where's your faith?

God is looking out for us.

- Please. - Scripture says that we...

Please! Please.

God is not gonna come down from his throne and give you a job.

I'm tired of waiting for your ship to come in.

I'm gonna get on my own two feet.

Hey! Here my grandbabies. Hey!

Hey, John! Oh! Look at my babies!

- Hi! - Hey, sweetie! Hey, Arielle.

You guys go inside and get some lemonade.

Hey, there, little Gabrielle!

John, come on and go in the house.

You're not gonna be my little bit for too long.

Wow, look at her! She's putting on some weight!

Yeah, her blood count is practically back to normal.

Hey, Mama.

- She's not gonna be my little bit no more. - No.

Hey, baby.

Well, you know, he can come inside.

Yeah, I think he's afraid.

Well, I'm not gonna bite him.

He's afraid of how he looks in your eyes.

You look tired, baby. You should have called me earlier. Come on.

Yeah. You hungry?

Hey, little bit! Look at my little thing! What?

She's getting so heavy!

Hey, looks like you got lots of options.

Mmm.

What's that mean? Mmm?

I'm gonna walk into these places like, "Hire me!"

And what are they gonna see first?

My failures or my desperation?

And if they ask for a resume, then what?

No husband, four kids, no address.

Don't do that to yourself, Natalie.

You just freed yourself up so you could make your life different.

That was the hard part.

Now go make your life different.

Hold your head up. Let them see what I'm seeing.

Courage. Nobody can stop you anymore.

Nobody.

- I love you, Mom. - I know you better.

What you got?

Oh...

Miss Carolyn was right.

It took some time, but Mom got a job as a bad-debt collector.

Here's a tip.

If you owe money, you do not want my mom coming after you.

In no time, she was a star employee, and we finally rented a house of our own.

Try this. One-handed.

I can do that. Watch!

Whoo!

- Gabrielle! - Did you see me, Mom? One-handed!

Girl, you're gonna break your neck.

Did you see it, Mom? Did you?

Did you see my shrub?

One-handed! But I can do it no-handed.

- Want to see? - It's called an aerial.

- I can still do it. - But I haven't taught you yet.

- Doesn't matter! Watch! - Hey, hey, hey! Get in this house!

I know every single one of you have homework to do, so let's go.

I can do an aerial.

Look at my shrub!

Why would you think the shrub would be a landing pad?

Here we go. There.

"Today should always be better than yesterday."

Why that one?

Because that, John, is the secret to life.

- A secret? - Mmm-hmm.

That's the reason why it's at the top of our vision board.

It's like another way of saying, "Don't look back. Move forward."

God helps those who help themselves.

How do you think we got here?

- We rented a truck. - All right, smarty-pants.

- God helped us rent the truck. - There you go.

- Put this on the vision board. - We are not getting a dog.

But, Mom! It will make today better than yesterday.

All right, I'll put it up, but only as a metaphor.

A what?

Um... A reminder to follow your dreams,

even though we are not getting a dog.

- So where do you want to put him? - Right here.

- All right. You put it up there. - Okay.

- You broke it! - Did not! Tag! You're it!

- That's unfair! - You're just a slowpoke! Slowpoke!

Hey, hey, hey, hey! I'm on the phone. Take that outside.

Yes.

Hey! Hey! Come back here!

Yeah. Yeah, I can do Wednesday, too, if I really push it. For sure.

Okay. Thank you.

You're it!

Hmm.

Nice work, Arie. You're moving fast.

Ooh!

What did she break now? I swear, that child is gonna drive me crazy.

You should put her in gymnastics class.

Who? Brie? No, I always saw you as the gym star.

The leotards on and your hair in a cute bun. We just couldn't afford it.

Mom, I've taught Brie everything I know. She just eats it up.

Remember when I tried back handsprings when I was nine?

Yeah, and I remember you broke both of your wrists.

Brie's already doing them.