Jewish Paralympian Ezra Frech Honors Mom Bahar Soomekh on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

(Kveller) – Ezra Frech is a Paralympic champion, a disability advocate and reality competition show star. Last Tuesday, he also put his status as an incredibly loving son on full display.

On the dedication episode of “Dancing With the Stars,” Ezra and dance partner Daniella Karagach performed an emotional contemporary routine in honor of Ezra’s mother, actress Bahar Soomekh. “She was in Academy Award-winning films at the peak of her career as an actress and she left it all to take care of me,” Ezra explained to Daniella ahead of the dance. “Everywhere I went as a little kid there was people staring, pointing fingers, whispering about me. She worked so hard, she worked so hard to get me to feel confident in myself.”

As he spoke, the 21-year-old held back tears. (Same Ezra, same!) “She never hid my leg, she never hid my hand. She would tell me, ‘You walk into every room with your chin up, your chest out and you let them know you’ve arrived.’”

And arrive he did on the dance floor. Ezra began the dance with his mother by his side, taking turns literally and symbolically lifting each other up to “Bloodline” by Mon Rovîa. Daniella then took over and the pair glided across the stage, performing elegant lifts and leaps. Their step sequences were perfectly synchronized. But it was the first lift of the routine that was perhaps the most spectacular and one that Ezra claims is a first for “Dancing With the Stars.” Doing a “blade stand,” Daniella climbed Ezra’s prosthetic leg onto his back as the track and field athlete leaned forward and lifted the prosthetic off the ground. The dance then ended as it began: Bahar returns to the stage as her son embraces her.

Cue waterworks from almost everyone in the room, including Ezra and Daniella.

It was a routine that required impressive athleticism, endurance and artistry from Ezra, and the judges were more than happy to reward him for it. The pair scored a 37 out of 40 points with guest judge Kym Johnson awarding them the first perfect 10 of the season. Ezra and Daniella ended the night second in the rankings, just one point behind his Team USA teammate Amber Glenn and dance partner Pasha Pashkov.

“It was the honor of my life,” Bahar told Entertainment Tonight after the show. “I used to dance with him when he was a little baby, so to be able to dance with him now as an adult… and Dani, her love, her beauty, her choreography, she really captured the essence of our story.”

This article was originally published on Kveller.