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Book Review

The Impossible Mile, by Johnny Agar

 
This book tells the life story of Johnny Agar.

This is a story that shows nothing is impossible where love and inspiration are teamed with care.

On March 18, 1994, Johnny was born, eleven weeks prematurely.  Numerous tests were done, and a bleed on the brain was discovered.  Doctors told Johnny's parents that he had cerebral palsy.  Johnny spent 3 months in the neonatal intensive care unit. 

Johnny's parents chose that Johnny was to be raised as a normal child - they would not allow medical staff to mention the word cerebral palsy in front of Johnny.  The parents were well aware of the issues that their son would need to surmount, but they were not prepared to pigeonhole him or set limitations on him.

Johnny was slow in his development, people at times were cruel in words and actions as they did not understand Johnny's condition, but his family rejoiced in each little developmental step that Johnny took.  At three Johnny took his first 2 steps. As he grew, Johnny's life consisted of school, speech & occupational therapy, he joined Cub Scouts and then Boy Scouts.  Johnny's father took him to all the Scout meetings and helped him to earn the merit badges.  Johnny's parents took him to many Centres that offered help in his development, this included traveling overseas for therapy. 

Johnny's parents were sport people, and Johnny wanted to be an athlete.  Johnny became an assistant coach for his sister's softball team - this was the beginning of his sporting life.  Johnny's dad found a jogger to put Johnny in and Johnny started accompanying his father on his one or two mile training runs.  In Johnny's 16th year he and his father participated in their first community race.  It was a five-kilometer race.  Needless to say, they did not win the race, but it inspired them to start training seriously to compete in future events.  The next step in Johnny's adventure was participating in triathlons.  For the swimming Johnny sat in a boat while a teammate would harness the boat and swim the distance, then a second teammate would push Johnny's chariot in the run and finally a third teammate would pull his chariot on the bike.  His first triathlon Johnny and his team came first.  Johnny went on to enter triathlons with his sister and father as his team.

When Johnny was 20, he was thinking about a 5-mile race that was to occur in a years' time.  At this point in time Johnny had only walked 23 steps in any one time.  Johnny decided he wanted to enter the race, and he wanted to walk himself the last mile.  His parents did not try to discourage him, they simply said he would need to train to accomplish this.

The day of the race came, Johnny had trained and trained.  Family and church members were there to support him and encourage him every step of the way.  As Johnny forced himself to complete the final mile, people joined him and walked with him, people had posters up saying 'You Can Do It'.  Runners that had completed the race, came back, and walked with Johnny.  Johnny succeeded - he crossed the finishing line.  It had taken Johnny 1 hour and 45 minutes to walk that mile.

Johnny's success was recorded in the media, he went on to participate at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii

This book highlights that the impossible can become the possible, challenges can be opportunities.  The book shows what it means to love unconditionally no matter how difficult the journey.

 
Picture Credit
https://koorong.com/product/the-impossible-mile-the-power-in-living-life_9781947297371

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