Kirby Oertling, a gold medalist wherever he goes

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - In 28 years of life, it’s not often you’ll see Kirby Oertling without a smile.

“He doesn’t have any bad days and starting with me I wish I could have more of that attitude as well because he’s always got a smile on his face, he’s the first person to shake your hand he’s the first person to be nice and do all those things,” said Kirby’s father Jason Oertling.

His infectious personality and spirit draws people to him per his friend and owner of Coffee 30 Joshua Smith.

“You just want to be around that he has that something special that’s important that I think more people in this world need,” Smith said.

That happiness comes from a love for sports, which he shares with his dad.

“He loves sports so much and we never had to push Kirby to do anything it’s automatic with him,” said Kirby’s mother Stacey Oertling. “Never have to tell him to do anything, he’s not lazy he always is just pressing through everything.”

The Oertlings bond over sports is strong, but so is the connection Kirby shares with the kids that attend soccer camps at St. Louis.

“He has helped me sometimes at St. Louis with some of the drills that we’ve been doing and when we have soccer camp, he’s great around younger kids as well,” Oertling said.

So it was no surprise to the Oertlings that Kirby wanted to compete in the Special Olympics. He’s been at it for 14 years and is coming off his first gold medal win in Orlando last week.

He finished first in four of the five events in the Pentathlon.

“It means the world to me representing Lake Charles that I just wanted to do my part and give back to Lake Charles and Louisiana as much as I could,” said Kirby Oertling.

Kirby’s impact has gone beyond the track and into the doors of his workplace, Coffee 30. It’s where owner Josh Smith said is where his genuine spirit is felt the most.

“It really inspired a lot of our staff to kind of step up their game and kind of work harder and be a better version of themselves you know everybody Kirby’s around he breathes life into people,” Smith said.

Simply put, Kirby is a gold medalist wherever he’s at.

“There’s only one number one and that’s Kirby Oertling AKA K Money,” Smith added.

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