Born without the three middle fingers on both hands, Mike Alt never let his condition define what he could do. Instead, he adapted—learning early that determination matters more than limitation. Whether in everyday life or on the playing field, he proved that obstacles don’t decide your future—you do.
Historically, Mike’s condition is termed a disability, but his preferred term is limb difference. Basically, Alt was born with a birth defect impacting his hands likely cause by one of two conditions—Amniotic Band Syndrome or Symbrachydactyly.
Regardless of the technical terms or hard-to-say medical gibberish, the cause didn’t matter much to Alt, now 36, or his parents.
Born in 1989, Alt only had two ultrasounds, which is very different than medical protocol today. As a result, Mike's parents and the doctors had no idea he had a birth defect. In fact, there were other complications during his birth that were more pressing.
"My parents didn't really care about my hands; they were just happy I was a healthy baby boy."
Alt was healthy indeed. And seemingly ready for anything the world could throw at him—literally and figuratively. He spent time at Shriner’s Hospital in the Bay Area as an infant and it didn’t take long for him to show everyone around him that he was up for a challenge.
“When I was about a year old, the doctors were talking to my parents about what their options were for my hands,” Alt says. "But then the doctors sat me on the table, put a string above my head and told me to look up at it. They dropped the string and without hesitation, I grabbed it.”
From then on, the conversation changed. Make the best with what you’ve got. “My parents… said, ‘let’s support him.’ For that, I’m forever grateful.”
Doctors did warn Alt’s parents he would struggle in sports and never play on the monkey bars, but spoiler alert: he did both.
Despite familial support, his childhood wasn’t always easy.
“I got bullied a lot. That was a different time,” Alt says. “There were times it didn’t feel like a blessing. But coming out of that, learning I was able to do most everything my friends could do, even though it took longer than most, then I learned to be grateful.”
Alt grew up loving sports, devoting much of his time to them throughout school. He played lots of basketball and some baseball. His dad worked for the San Jose Sharks, so he mixed in some hockey, too.
In high school he excelled on the tennis court, reaching northern Nevada’s large school regional final three times during his prep career at Damonte Ranch High and eventually becoming the school’s girl’s team’s head coach.
Still, basketball was his first love. He overcame the absence of digits and taught himself how to shoot the roundball. He made hoop teams at Damonte and coached at the South Reno high school during his college years. He still coaches basketball to this day, teaching the game and sitting on the board of directors for the local Sierra Nevada Basketball program.
He's also an avid golfer and continues to play basketball and hockey on adult leagues in Reno.
It was during his time at the University of Nevada, Reno when Alt learned to really embrace his limb difference during a class video assignment.
“It was 2012 and I knew I had to talk about the thing that I don’t talk about. To that point in my life, I’d answer questions about my limbs but wasn’t going out of my way to discuss it. I typically had my hands in my pockets. That class assignment made me get vulnerable,” he says, alluding to a video assignment where he talked about his condition and how it had impacted his life. “The video blew up. It got 5,000 views in a single night. A lot of companies reposted it. It created a lot of positive feedback and even helped me learn about other limb differential groups… That was a turning point in my life. I started to look at it as a blessing. I was glad I didn’t have to keep this to myself. I could share and be proud of myself and others.”
The assignment launched a period of advocacy for Alt. He competed in a local TEDx competition for UNR, he spoke at school assemblies and to corporate employee groups, and he became active with Lucky Fin Project.
Alt graduated from UNR with a degree in business management. He’s worked for ProLogistix for the past nine years and is currently a business development/market growth manager for the company.
“Now, my hands are just a reminder of where I’ve come from, what I’ve done, and to never take life for granted,” Alt says. “You should not shy away from a challenge. That’s the biggest thing. If I went ‘woe is me,’ and kept my head down, if I’d have said, ‘no I can’t do that,’ I would’ve lost out on so many different things. For me, this is just a reminder to try and create value for people, helping them see they can overcome any challenge that’s in the way.”