Once, a young school boy was caught in a fire
accident in his school and was retrieved more
dead than alive. He had major burns over the
lower half of the body. His mother was told
that he was sure to die – which was for the
best, really – for the terrible fire had
devastated the lower half of his body. Even if
he were to survive, he would be a cripple
throughout his life.

But the brave boy did not want to die nor did
he want to be a cripple. Much to be
amazement of the doctor he did survive. But
unfortunately from his waist down, he had no
motor ability. His thin legs just dangled there,
all but lifeless. Ultimately he was discharged
from the hospital. But his determination to
walk was undiminished. At home, when he
was not in bed, he was confined to the wheel
chair.

One day, he threw himself from the
chair and pulled himself across the grass,
dragging his legs behind him . He reached the
picket fence, raised himself up and then stake
by stake, he began dragging himself along the
fence, resolved that he would walk. He did
this everyday, with faith in himself that he
would be able to walk unaided. With his iron
persistence, and his resolute determination, he
did develop the ability to stand up, then to
walk haltingly, then to walk by himself and
then to run.

He began to walk to school, then to run to
school, to run for the sheer joy of running.
Later in college he made the track team.
In February 1934, in New York City's famed
Madison Square Garden, this young man who
was not expected to survive, who would
surely never walk, who could never hope to
run – this determined young man, Dr. Glenn
Cunningham, ran the world’s fastest mile.


An epitome of the power of positive thinking
and faith in one's self, Glenn Cunningham
continues to be an inspiration for many, and
his story, a brilliant testimony to how one can
bounce back even when all odds are stacked
against one, to the extent that death seemed
the preferable option.


Impossible Is Nothing

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