Racing Together: Mother and Son to Compete in NYC Marathon
November 1, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Tomorrow morning, Nadine McNeil will be in her fourth New York City marathon. Unable to use her right arm and right leg after a stroke when she was 8, she uses a handcycle. She’s not, as a New York Times article notes, the only member of her household who’ll be the marathon: Her 18-year-old son Tyler, who’s autistic, is running his first one. Tyler has won “dozens of medals” in the Special Olympics and especially for swimming; Penny Shaw, the 71-year-old director of Project Happy, which first noted Tyler’s athletic ability, describes him as “’saved by sports.’”
Tyler will be running with one of his special-education teachers, Vinny Bruno. His mother won’t be with him throughout the race; the New York Times focuses on the close—even symbiotic—relationship between mother and son:
Nadine has poured her life into her son. Tyler, in turn, is what she calls “my right arm.” He compensates for her disabilities by tying her shoes. He does her buttons and zippers. If she tries to put on her coat, he will immediately rush to her side and gently lift her right arm into the sleeve.
……….
in November 2006, Nadine found herself at the starting line in Staten Island. She had attached her paralyzed right arm to the handcycle’s pedal mechanism with duct tape from Home Depot. She powered the chair with her left arm and finished the marathon in 4 hours 3 minutes.As Nadine trained for more races, Tyler would jog by her wheelchair. Nadine began to notice a difference in her supposedly frozen arm: It had gained some power and even some range of motion. Her doctor noticed, too.
“It has become much stronger in just the past year with all the practice she’s had,” said Regina Coyne, Nadine’s general practitioner.
Last November, Tyler became confused when Nadine boarded the bus to travel to the marathon starting line. He wanted to go with her.
Something more than teamwork—-sure, Charlie depends on Jim and me but, more and more, he helps us out; more and more we’re interdependent. Nadine McNeil got started racing in a handcycle when the founder of one of Tyler’s sports programs suggested she give it a try. If it hadn’t been for Charlie, I would never have learned how to swim.
Runman and What Sorts of People have also blogged about Tyler and his mother, and their big day tomorrow.
Kristina,
Although my first comment is in response to your interview on the Today Show, I find that your strength as a parent is not unlike Nadine McNeil who by example explains living with autism with a calm and steady fortitude.
I wrote: “Fellow blogger Kristina Chew is interviewed, she believes that her son Charlie was born with autism, and that is her final word. Nevertheless, people challenge her belief. “You have a Phd, how can you be so stupid not to think that vaccines cause autism”. She remains firm, and articulates her position with soft intelligence and grace.”
I too marked what a triumph Nadine McNeil and her son Tyler will enjoy tomorrow. I also appreciated with a lot of thought what road they traveled to reach this venture. What I cannot rationalize is just how different our journeys map out. This is the piece of the autism puzzle that really gets to me. I did write a post about it today.
http://www.revolutionhealth.com/blogs/resilientmom/a-journey-of-an-autis-16614
The gist of my frustration lies in the developmental kaleidoscope that is beyond our understanding.
“Reading their story reminds me how many of us began at the same starting line in our personal marathons with autism. Non-verbal tantrums, poor comprehension and stimulatory behaviors are commonplace as our toddlers navigate through their unsettled worlds. What happens next is truly a mystery, how some excel and others fail. Why does my son speak volumes, and Tyler does not, is often the nature of the disease. Sometime identical interventions have very different outcomes.
I know children that started out with us, nonverbal etc. who are now entering college, and although I am so very grateful for my son’s progress, he has not been able to follow that path.
This is where we need a break. Call it a quest for answers.
Regards,
Robin
Love it…
I’m heading out for a run in their honor tomorrow morning… Hoping when Jack gets a little bigger he might want to run with me too.
This is wonderful!!
aw what a sweet story. my hearts warm
Kelly Turner
http://www.groundedfitness.com
@Robin,
just have to say…….thank you for the too kind words——and the NY Time article reminds us all that the quest is more of a marathon than a spring, and we’re all in it for the long haul.
Tyler finished in 5:07:48. Congrats Tyler!