SINGAPORE: As William Denny took his first steps, he steadied himself on the handlebars of a toy lawnmower.

Living with cerebral palsy, William may have been months behind the usual milestones growing up and relies on some additional physical supports but he has always been intent on paving his own way.

Now at the age of 27, William has turned his early fascination with mowing into a business of his own, launching WD Mowing Service this March.

When William was born he wasn’t breathing, and his mum Susan Denny said for the following months he was behind the regular milestones, before being diagnosed at eight months old.

“William has always been very determined and always had great ideas,” Ms Denny said.

“He has just run his own show, Will’s way.

“Like ‘I want to do it that way, I’m going to pave my own way’, because he’s probably felt like he’s had to too.”

William said there were a lot of things that made life with cerebral palsy hard.

“A lot of people won’t even engage because they see me in a wheelchair or a walker and automatically think I have an intellectual impairment, or when I’m driving, people judge me because they reckon I shouldn’t be driving even though I’ve got the highest licence,” he said.

“You get a lot of judgement when you’ve got a disability.

“It’s really hard because I get continually judged by some people.”

He previously spent more than seven years operating vehicles for Russell Mineral Equipment, but after leaving the company, he said it was challenging for him to find work.

“I really wanted to be a truck driver because I have my MC licence (Multi-Combination) so I can drive a road train,” he said.

“When you’ve got a disability, it’s really hard to get a job, especially with the kind of work that I want to do.

“So that’s why I started my own work.”

Ms Denny said it was hard watching her eldest son struggle the way William had.

“It’s a bit heartbreaking when I see all the skills that he has, a lot (of companies) have sort of fobbed him off, not given him a start,” she said.

“He just wants to have a job and I think he was thinking about how it’s because of my disability.

“They can’t see that he can do this.”

She said William had constantly been told the things he would probably never do because of his cerebral palsy, and driving was one of them.

“He was told you wouldn’t get your license, you won’t do this, you won’t do that,” she said.

“So yeah, tenacious. You have to be though.”

WD Mowing Service wasn’t William’s first entrepreneurial venture and after doing woodwork in high school he started Will’s Woodwork in 2016, where he made and sold chopping boards and tables.

However he was forced to take a step back in January this year after undergoing surgery on his wrist.

William was diagnosed with Kienböck’s disease, a condition where the lunate wrist bone breaks down and can cause pain and even lead to bone tissue dying.

“I lost all my independence,” he said.

“It was very difficult because I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t drive, couldn’t walk, I was back in the wheelchair for eight weeks.”

Ms Denny said it was difficult seeing her son struggle through his recovery.

“Since his hand surgery, he’s sort of dropped off, because there’s a lot of physical labour in that,” she said.

“He was not able to use his arm for really two or three months.”

William Denny doesn’t let cerebral palsy stop him from operating a mowing business, Thursday, April 9, 2026. Picture: Kevin Farmer

She said after watching him struggle through his recovery, it was amazing to see him start his new business.

“This has been really good, it’s got him positive again,” she said.

“He’s never been interested in doing something that’s, what I would call easier physically.

“He’s always wanted to push himself.”

As William’s support worker, Josh Wilson said his job was to help William be independent.

“He’s enjoying getting out, meeting different people, mowing their blocks,” he said.

“He’s said in the past, he would really love his main goal would be to drive trucks full time, that’s what he’d love to do.

“But it’s hard because a lot of people out there don’t want to give you a go, especially once they see that he’s got cerebral palsy.

“People read people too quick, so doing this, I think if it takes off well, that’ll keep his spirits up.”