Local photographer Paul Buchanan poses next to his photograph of a 12-year-old amputee, Ben Baltz, competing in a triathlon with his dad, JC Baltz. The photo was taken on the Fourth of July in 2013 and has since went viral twice.

As Paul Buchanan stood in the pouring rain on July 4, 2013, juggling an umbrella in one hand and a heavy camera in the other, he never thought the photo he was about to take would work its way to millions of Internet users and to international news stations. He was out supporting and photographing his niece’s participation in the Freedom Springs Triathlon in Marianna, Fla., when he saw a young boy with an artificial leg making his way up a steep hill. As the boy approached the peak, a man running beside him reached out his hand to help him in the rain. Paul began snapping away, capturing JC Baltz supporting his then 12-year-old son, Ben Baltz, in a photo that would go “viral” not once, but twice.

“Everything just came together at the right time and right place, a moment that will now last forever,” Paul remarked.

Ben, now 14, lost his right leg to cancer when he was just six years old. The photo and Ben’s story was picked up online earlier this month by TODAY and People magazine, and even Lester Holt shared it and commented about it on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt Facebook page. The news has traveled to countries like Australia, Mexico and Indonesia. But why did the photo suddenly go viral again? Paul thinks it has something to do with the national dialogue surrounding healthcare and the Affordable Care Act.

A photo of a young amputee defying the odds with the help of family struck a chord with American audiences, and the story traveled overseas from there.

The photo originally went viral in 2014 after Ben’s sister, Rachel, submitted it to a Runner’s World magazine cover contest. Ben was too young to qualify for the contest, but that didn’t stop the photo from spreading and inspiring others, especially cancer patients and survivors, amputees, Wounded Warriors, athletes, and fathers and sons.

“It was reward enough to successfully take the picture and to know that Ben and his dad liked it,” Paul said. “Just to know that Ben could see and remember his accomplishment that day was a reward to me.”

Paul, originally from Panama City Beach, lives in Suwannee County and has a prolific portfolio of photography, primarily in sports, as he captures local high school teams that are usually printed in this newspaper. He is mostly self-taught since college, but he credits his father for teaching him about composition, making a photo more meaningful and anticipating a good shot.

“One of the reasons I do sports photography is to pay back those many people and coaches that helped me when I was a kid and trying my best to succeed,” Paul said. “By taking these photos, maybe I can inspire another generation of athletes to keep going or to pursue or join a sport. I’m trying to pay it forward.”

As a teen, Paul’s track coach at Bay High School, Garry Terrell, helped him secure a cross country scholarship to the University of South Alabama. Paul later earned a graduate degree and landed a job in geographic information systems at the Suwannee River Water Management District, where he has worked for the past 25 years.

When he’s not photographing the accomplishments of others, Paul has earned quite a few of his own. In athletics, Paul was selected to carry the Olympic Torch in Panama City Beach for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In photography, Paul’s photos have been published in numerous regional and local newspapers, including the Suwannee Democrat.

“Suwannee County is fortunate to have a newspaper that prints so many photos of local athletes, from recreation sports to high school,” Paul remarked. “The larger cities and newspapers tend to focus on professional and college teams and athletes, and as a result the local athletes are seldom mentioned or pictured.”

As for his most recent accomplishment, Paul said he is proud of taking such a memorable and inspiring photo, but he is also humbled that it has reached so many people and made such a positive impact.

“It has been fun and exciting to see how far the photo goes,” said Paul. “I think it will always have a positive impact.”

You can view and purchase Paul’s photography at www.suwanneesports.com.