Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland and Kurt Fearnley of Australia won the NYC Marathon wheelchair division. They are pictured at left, wearing orange jackets and wreaths in their hair, and holding bouquets after the race. Hunkeler dubbed this marathon the toughest and said it is "always the highlight of my year".Team Reeve pursued its goal of raising $26,000 to help cure paralysis at the NYC marathon. Matthew Reeve, Christopher Reeve's son, (pictured at right in his Team Reeve shirt while running) finished the race in a bit over four hours. Matthew has raised $18, 672.00, according to his fundraising page, which, if you'd like to donate, can be found here.
A video about the team's goals of Care and Cure is shown below.
2 comments:
It is interesting to observe how the Reeve Foundation has evolved since Christopher Reeve's death. The focus is still on a cure, a laudable goal, but now the Foundation is willing to acknowledge the gross economic and social inequities associated with paralysis. Yet I remain deeply troubled by the focus on cure. For instance, the Foundation got lots of press about with regard to fundraising but virtually no media outlet reported anything more than a blurb about the exciting finish to the men's wheelchair division race. So what do people remember? People that use wheelchairs are in need of charity and foremost a cure. A better balance is desperately needed.
Bill,
I agree with you. Without more of an emphasis on care, the majority of people with paralysis living today are not going to get what they need to have a decent quality of life. This recession has only deepened the problem, which was, as you point out, already exacerbated by the economic and social inequities associated with paralysis.
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