Just a short post to highlight a large thanks...THANKS to Mike McKenna, VP of The Charleston Running Club who invited me to speak at their meeting last month. Not only that, but Mike has personally donated to IFOPA, helping to fund the research that will put an end to this disease forever. Mike has also linked to our fund raising efforts on his "Catch the Leprechaun 5k" blog here.
This made me think of all the invisible threads that connect our lives. I am thinking how Mike Lenhart convinced me to come to Getting2Tri National ParaTriathlon Training Camp, where I met so many incredible athletes and volunteers. I also was able to meet in person a number of people I knew online, like Scott Rigsby, Jason Gunter, Kelly Luckett, and our friend Ashley Kurpiel. Parents and spouses and friends; a large circle of support growing wider every day. People touching other people's lives either directly or through indirect actions.
I arrived at this place in my life because of steps many others had taken, to show that the loss of a limb did not mean loss of life, rather improved life, even life restored. By actions, not words, we move forward. And yes, run.
So now Mike has come to know Ashley and those affected by FOP, and is helping because Ashley reached out to me when I lost my foot and I lost my foot because someone named Oscar Pistorius showed me what was possible.
This is indeed the good stuff. Try it sometime.
Be like Mike.
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