NO EXCUSES
One cold morning in February of 1916,two young boys arrived at the schoolhouse,they where two brothers the little one was 8 years old the older was 13,they went earlier to school because they where assigned to light the stove that warmed the school,They soaked the wood with the liquid from a kerosene container,the moment they dropped the match,a large explosion blasted the two boys,killing the older,crippling the younger,his legs where burned almost to the bone,the doctors wanted to amputate both his legs,but the parents of the boy refused.
Someone had filled the kerosene canister with highly explosive gasoline that cause that terrifying explosion.It was said that the little boy will remain paralyzed for the rest of his life.
He spended few months in hospital wrapped in bandages and in unbearable pain, They sent him home with a wheelchair and crutches, advising the family to massage the legs to stretch the muscles and restore suppleness to his lower limbs.
Cunningham commented on the arduous regimen in his autobiography, American Miler: The Life and Times of
“It hurt like mad,” Glenn said, “especially when my father stretched my legs...When my father would get tired I’d ask my mother to do the massaging and stretching and when she couldn’t do any more I’d start doing it myself.”
Even a small boy like him was determined one day to walk again,one sunny day the boy was sitting in his wheelchair in his yard,in matter of minutes the boy jumped from the wheelchair and dragged himself through the yard and raised himself through the fence,he did that everyday for many weeks,he started dragging himself along the fence with his hands,slowly the life in his legs returned,in matter of months he started walking normally.The doctors where amazed from the progress.
Years later the little boy was a grown man when he made a discovery.
It hurt like thunder to walk, but it didn't hurt at all when I ran. So for five or six years, about all I did was run.”
That boys name was Glenn Cunningham,an American distance runner considered by many the greatest American miler of all time.
He competed in both the 1932 Summer Olympics as well as the 1936 Summer Olympics. While on the ship traveling from the U.S. to Germany, he was voted "Most Popular Athlete" by his fellow Olympians, finishing just ahead of Jesse Owens.[1] Cunningham and Owens would end up rooming together for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Through this experience Owens and Cunningham developed a lifelong friendship.[1]
Cunningham won the Sullivan medal in 1933 for his various running achievements in middle distance.
In the 1932 Olympics he took 4th place in the 1500 m, and in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he took silver in the 1500 meters.
In 1934, he set the world record for the mile run at 4:06.8, which stood for three years.
In 1936, he set the world record in the 800 m run.
In 1938, he set a world record in the indoor mile run of 4:04.4. He retired from competition in 1940. (Roger Bannister was the first to break the four-minute mile, in 1954.)
Someone had filled the kerosene canister with highly explosive gasoline that cause that terrifying explosion.It was said that the little boy will remain paralyzed for the rest of his life.
He spended few months in hospital wrapped in bandages and in unbearable pain, They sent him home with a wheelchair and crutches, advising the family to massage the legs to stretch the muscles and restore suppleness to his lower limbs.
Cunningham commented on the arduous regimen in his autobiography, American Miler: The Life and Times of
“It hurt like mad,” Glenn said, “especially when my father stretched my legs...When my father would get tired I’d ask my mother to do the massaging and stretching and when she couldn’t do any more I’d start doing it myself.”
Even a small boy like him was determined one day to walk again,one sunny day the boy was sitting in his wheelchair in his yard,in matter of minutes the boy jumped from the wheelchair and dragged himself through the yard and raised himself through the fence,he did that everyday for many weeks,he started dragging himself along the fence with his hands,slowly the life in his legs returned,in matter of months he started walking normally.The doctors where amazed from the progress.
Years later the little boy was a grown man when he made a discovery.
It hurt like thunder to walk, but it didn't hurt at all when I ran. So for five or six years, about all I did was run.”
That boys name was Glenn Cunningham,an American distance runner considered by many the greatest American miler of all time.
He competed in both the 1932 Summer Olympics as well as the 1936 Summer Olympics. While on the ship traveling from the U.S. to Germany, he was voted "Most Popular Athlete" by his fellow Olympians, finishing just ahead of Jesse Owens.[1] Cunningham and Owens would end up rooming together for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Through this experience Owens and Cunningham developed a lifelong friendship.[1]
Cunningham won the Sullivan medal in 1933 for his various running achievements in middle distance.
In the 1932 Olympics he took 4th place in the 1500 m, and in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he took silver in the 1500 meters.
In 1934, he set the world record for the mile run at 4:06.8, which stood for three years.
In 1936, he set the world record in the 800 m run.
In 1938, he set a world record in the indoor mile run of 4:04.4. He retired from competition in 1940. (Roger Bannister was the first to break the four-minute mile, in 1954.)
No comments:
Post a Comment