He was born in
Kansas City, Missouri, to Francine Brown, and has an elder sister named Breana. At the age of 15 months, he was diagnosed with
Kawasaki disease, which led to
glaucoma and complete blindness by the age of 13. Consequently, Brown moved from Kansas City to
St. Louis to attend the
Missouri School for the Blind at 11. While at the Missouri School for the Blind, Brown met his first running coach, Tim Cobb, who helped him join the
United States Association of Blind Athletes. Brown practiced multiple sports, including basketball, wrestling, volleyball and
goalball before turning to athletics. Brown began competing in abled athletics in 2006 during the Colorado Rocky Mountain State Games, competing in
high jump,
long jump, and
wrestling events. Following his vision loss, he switched his focus to the
100 metres and
200 metres events, winning an essay contest to attend the
2008 Summer Paralympics and making his senior international debut at the
2011 Parapan American Games. Brown is a music lover who appreciates a wide variety of genres, including classical music, country, gospel, jazz or reggae. He has played the drums, piano and tenor saxophone in a jazz band or at a local church. == References ==