Teen drone champ finds freedom in the sky

In this new world of quarantine and isolation, sometimes we have to search for freedom.

Fifteen-year-old Daniel Walston found his in the air.

Through the eyes of a tiny drone.

“Hitting a super small gap in a tree, and then flowing to another area. And feeling kind of like a bird," said Daniel.

He was inspired to build his first drone three years ago.

“When I saw the first video of someone flying something similar to this," he said.

He flew it once and was hooked.

He started practicing.

“I’d take any household object. A chair, a table, something else sitting around, and I’d just start flying through it really fast. As fast as I could," said Daniel.

Now, he’s become a master behind the remote, able to fly his tiny, homemade Whoop drones in, underneath and around just about anything.

He’s won some racing competitions, and took second place in a recent international freestyle competition, beating competitors from around the world.

But for Daniel, flying is more than winning a competition.

“It’s kind of like a therapy. When you go out and fly, you don’t have to think of anything else," he said.

Every twist, every turn tells a story.

“I see it kind of like a poem, but in flight," said Daniel.

Up here, Daniel is free.

If you'd like to learn more about drones, a virtual youth summer camp is planned for kids who are interested.