Being blind and having cerebral palsy will not prevent a 6 year-old child from running his fourth 5K race. Profiled in Myrtle Beach Online, the child, named Jayden, is planning on participating in a race during the third week in February, along with 1,000 other runners, as part of the Myrtle Beach annual Bi-Lo Marathon Weekend.
According to the article, doctors had good reasons to believe that Jayden would never be able to run or jump when he was born, much less participate in races. The child’s father, however, said that he enjoys running long distances. The child, of course, cannot keep up with other runners and is slower than most, but he enjoys the races and has been participating in them with his father’s assistance. His father sets a pace for the child to make sure that Jayden doesn’t burn himself out too quickly and the pair is able to finish the races.
Cerebral Palsy and Mobility
Jayden’s case is remarkable in that he can participate in rather grueling events. This is not the way life is for many people with Cerebral Palsy, however. This umbrella term for a range of conditions involves severe effects on control of the muscles, which for many children, makes it nearly impossible for them to do anything involving walking, running or, sometimes, even picking up small objects. Some people with Cerebral Palsy suffer from constant involuntary movements that make it very difficult for them to take care of themselves and many people with Cerebral Palsy need almost constant assistance from professional caregivers or family members.
There are children and adults with Cerebral Palsy, however, who participate in races and take on other challenges as ways of enjoying themselves. Sometimes, it’s to prove that they can complete those events and, in other cases, they participate in such events for the same reasons that anyone else would: to raise money for charity, to get in better shape and so forth.
For many people with mild cerebral palsy symptoms, participating in such events can be a great way to gain more control over their bodies and to get involved in healthy social activities. For people with very severe symptoms, however, participating in these events may be impossible. For people with the severest of Cerebral Palsy symptoms, there are medical treatment options that are constantly improving and offering better results, which can change the lives of some Cerebral Palsy sufferers in profound ways.