App developer born with spinal muscular atrophy starts nonprofit to lift others up
RUSH CITY, Minn. — Rush City native Tristan Larsin is a very successful app developer —he works for Zillow. But his climb to success involved some extra hurdles — hurdles he's taking away for others.
"When I was learning, I really just followed a lot of YouTube tutorials," Larson said.
Those tutorials worked. At just 27, Larsin is now a sought-after phone app developer.
"I jumped from job to job over a few years as I climbed the ladder a little bit, now I am at Zillow. And I have used Zillow for years just to look at houses," he said.
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It's a job his father, who worked construction in Rush City, is proud of, too.
"On his fourth job I think he was at a wage that exceeded anything I had earned in my lifetime," James Larsin said.
Tristan Larsin's lifetime has been marked by some ongoing challenges.
"I am here today because his wheelchair is broken," James Larsin said. "I wasn't intending to be here today. He called me yesterday and said, 'Dad, it took a half an hour for my wheelchair to sit up this morning. My wheelchair is completely broken, they have a new joystick, a new part for it but I have to go there. I can't get there.'"
Tristan Larsin was born with spinal muscular atrophy, a gradual nerve condition.
"When I was in fourth grade, I got my first power wheelchair, so I used that daily to go to school," he said.
He leaned into school hard, especially computer science, for academic and social reasons, too.
"It was emotional there because these people I grew up with I wasn't as connected with, because I couldn't be connected with them if they were just gonna go play football Friday night, I couldn't do that," Tristan Larsin said. "In my spare time I started learning these new skills. So if I am not hanging out with my friends as much I can learn more about building websites. And that's where I've gotten to the point I am now because I have spent so much time working towards my jobs."
Tristan Larsin graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth and quickly excelled, reaching career and financial success while dealing with major daily challenges.
"I have had a lift break on me multiple times and if it breaks, I can't get out of bed, I can't get transferred out of my wheelchair," he said. "I am about 180 pounds, I can't just get lifted by one caretaker. I've had it break and luckily I've had the money to rent one while it's been processed to get a new one."
But he knows many can't. So his father suggested he start a nonprofit.
"IDISCY, which stands for 'I did it so can you,' and it's our motto to inspire and encourage other disabled individuals that they can achieve their dreams," Tristan Larsin said.
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Tristan used his own money to start this foundation to provide medical equipment like lifts and shower chairs
"If you can't perform the daily things you need to even get ready for the day, how can you be successful?" he said.
He's also started a scholarship program he is personally funding, too.
"People bring it up and I can't help but tear up, how proud I am of what he's become," James Larsin said.
Tristan Larsin wants others to become all they can be, too, so he's hoping more donors will help fund dignity and dreams that he's proven can come true.
"I am using what I have to help other people and then other people can help each other and just build this whole thing up," he said.
Applicants and donors can connect with IDISCY on the website.
