Frederick " Freddy " Freeman never had an easy life to begin with . His father hated the fact that he was alive instead of his mother , so he often abused his hyperactive son who loved running around . But one stormy night when he was six , his father throws him down the stairs and repeatedly stomps on his little leg , breaking it . He refuses to take Freddy to the hospital so the bones are set wrong . By the time anyone's realized about the abuse , it was too late .

Freddy became permanently disabled , confined to a wheelchair before he heals enough to use a crutch . He's unable to run like he used to do and that breaks him , but he begins reading comics on superheroes to keep himself happy . He was in the system before the Vasquez's took him in when he was eleven and he had never been happier despite the bullying in school . But a part of him still longed for more , longed to be like the superheroes he read about . It isn't long after until him and the rest of his foster siblings change with the powers of Shazam and all Freddy knows is that he's going to help as much people as he can .