The next time you’re too tired to go to the gym or you’re so swamped at work you couldn’t possibly go for a lunchtime jog – just remember that someone who is more exhausted and even busier than you is out there running right now.
The same goes for someone who, probably unlike you or I, does not have the full use of both of their legs. That person is Adrianne Haslet-Davis, and she has a million and one reasons to put off that run for another day. But that doesn’t mean she’s going to.
Adrianne was a spectator at the Boston Marathon back in 2013. On a date with her husband Adam, who had just returned from Afghanistan, the pair were out in sunny Boston and decided to take a walk on Boylston Street.
A terrorist attack near the finish line took Adrianne’s leg below the knee, while shrapnel shredded Adam’s legs. The professional ballroom dancer had to adjust to life with a prosthetic leg, undergoing extensive rehabilitation, as well as therapy for her PTSD.
Refusing to be defined by the accident, Adrianne rejected the term victim in favour of bombing ‘survivor’. She returned to ballroom dancing, winning her first competition back, and last year she danced the foxtrot across the finish line. She also performs at numerous public speaking events in which she inspires audiences around the world with her story of hope and courage.
For most of us that would be enough. We could retire then and there, knowing that we would still have the respect of our peers, our family and the world.
But Adrianne is not done yet. Returning to the course and the scene of the explosion, the amputee will be competing in the Boston marathon today as a runner. With her prosthetic leg and team #AdrianneStrong beside her, the 35-year-old will attempt to walk and run the 26.2 miles to the finish line.
As any runner will testify, contending in a race for the first time is a nerve-wracking time, which tests both your physical fitness and your mental fortitude. But as a first-time marathon runner and bombing survivor at the same location, Adrianne will be putting everything on (and across) the line in an effort to raise money for the Limbs for Life foundation and to honour those who lost their lives in the 2013 attacks.
Adrianne told WCVB News, “I’m not inspired by the amputee that’s crossing the finish line or standing on top of the mountain. I’m inspired by the struggle and the deep, raw grit that it took to get there. And I think the Boston Marathon does a good job of showing the grit.”
To donate you can click here.
Or just put on those running shoes, ballet pumps, or do whatever it is that makes you happy – and don’t ever for a second take your body for granted.
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