County Derry man born without hands inspiring others brick by brick

A County Derry man who was born without hands is using his story to show children they can do anything they put their minds to.

Desmond James Calvert from Portstewart builds Lego and tours schools with what he builds, showing pupils his disability does not hold him back.

For DJ, who was born without hands and legs to the knee, having a disability is not the end of the story, it's just the beginning.

“People who don't have a disability often don't understand what it's like to have a disability,” he said.

“I try to encourage people to realise having a disability is really the beginning not the end. If you're determined you can achieve what you want to achieve.

“My goal is to inspire people. I've had mothers come back to me and say 'my child has autism and now that he's seen you he's got into Lego and it's changed his life'.”

As a young boy Desmond James Calvert took on the challenge of building his first Lego set. He said it was something he wouldn't have even considered at that point but his parents always nudged him to try new things and test himself.

“Of course at that age I found it easier just to give up than try. It took me a while to figure it out. It was my very first set. It took two or three hours but I really enjoyed it and couldn't wait to get the next set,” he said.

Building Lego has become somewhat trendy in recent years with the likes of Daniel Radcliffe, Terry Crews and Anna Kendrick becoming unofficial ambassadors for the brand.

Manchester United legend, David Beckham, has frequently talked-up the plastic bricks, saying building 'relaxes' him.

This is also part of the reason DJ has carried his passion into adulthood.

“As you know there's a lot of people struggling with mental health issues at the minute and I've suffered myself with mental health. I've suffered from depression.

“I find Lego to be a therapy for me. You don't think about anything but what you're doing when you’re building it.

“After I'm done building Lego I feel a lot better and I want to try and get that across to adults, teenagers and children that might have depression – it can occupy your mind for a while,” he said.

DJ says this flow-like state can even make him completely lose track of time.

“Last year I took on a challenge. I was asked to go to Millburn Primary School in Coleraine and I wanted to build a new set to take in and show the kids.

“It was the Technic CAT D11 Bulldozer. It's got a wee motor so you can drive it, you can put the blade up and down and the tracks go 'round.

“I had two weeks to build it and when I came home it was probably about half ten. I thought I'd do a couple of hours before I went to bed. I lost track of time and it was about four in the morning and it was getting bright outside.

“I managed to get it completed about three days before I went to the school,” he said.

At times building can still be a challenge for DJ and he still gets the same sense of achievement that he got finishing his first set all those years ago.

“The bigger the set, the more complicated the steps, the better that feeling is,” he said.

“You can come to a piece and you think 'how am I going to get this together?' because you really need two hands and fingers for it. To hold one bit and push another bit.

“Usually within 10 or 20 minutes I can figure out how I'm going to do it but there was one set that took me an hour to work out how I was going to get around it and put it together.

“But that's the fun part. I don't like getting beaten. With anything in my life, whether it's Lego or whatever, I like a challenge. If somebody says to me 'DJ, you can't do that' I will prove them wrong,” he said.