Friday night, the Montgomery County teenager was surrounded by family and those he has inspired as the Burn Foundation raised money at it's annual gala.
Burn survivor, Sean Canepa said, "Without the support of my family, my mom my dad and my stepdad, without all of them and my friends, none of this would be possible right now."
Most of the Delaware Valley knows how his story began. 12 years ago when Sean was five years old, he was pulled from a burning car in Bucks County.
His dad said the fire was an accident but he was charged in connection with the blaze and ended up in prison.
47 percent of Sean's body was burned.
After years of going to the foundation's burn camp and just leaning to be a kid, the senior at Hatboro-Horsham High School is taking on the mature role of giving back.
"Reaching out to these kids have made me want to reach out to people outside the camp and really just get a message across to them," said Canepa.
He made this YouTube video called "Normal."
"We are all different and it's because of those differences that we're all the same. If we feel normal then anything is possible," added Canepa.
Sean Canepa was the featured speaker at the gala in Center City.
Patsy Porter, Burn Foundation President & C.E.O. said, "He just caught my attention from the very beginning and as I've watched him over the years, he's just gotten stronger and stronger as just an awesome person."
The video and the others he's been able to help has inspired Sean to seek out a career in motivational speaking.
Canepa says, "I just want to be the true example of how to turn a negative into a positive. I can 100% truly say I'm living a good life right now."
While Sean is working to become a motivational speaker, right now he's focused on being the best player possible on his high school's soccer team and picking a college.
