Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Blog #9


The article I read is called 2012 Sports Kids of the Year: Conner and Cayden Long written by Gary Gramling and published in SI Kids Magazine. Conner Long is nine years old and Cayden Long is seven years old but he has hypertonic cerebral palsy. This leaves Cayden unable to walk or talk on his own. Playing sports is a great way for the brothers to bond but cayden can’t, until Conner came up with a great idea. They started participating in triathlons together. Conner swims while pulling Cayden in a raft, bikes with a trailer behind him that Cayden sits in and pushes the trailer when they run. Conner found the Nashville Kids Triathlon that consisted of swimming, biking and running. His parents said he could race and he insisted on cayden coming along. In their first race they had 100 yards of swimming that Conner pulled Cayden along. Then had Gildersleeve who is a young triathlon coach, biked cayden along the hilly three mile leg race and then Conner insisted that cayden would ride along with him on the bike with him. Next was the mile run that he pushed Cayden along. They completed the race in 43 minutes.  Now they have completed over 14 races and many people see Conner as inspiring. Cayden smiles and giggles throughout the races. Conner ultimate goal is to one day race with Cayden in Kona, Hawaii at the Ironman World Championships.  It will take hard work and sacrifice.  The Long brothers each have one good reason to work towards that dream which is each other.

This story is unbelievable. Conner Long is very inspiring to other kids in the world that have disabilities. They have shown true meaning of love and loyalty. We need more people out there like Conner. I hope that one day the Long brothers will be able to complete the Ironman World Championships. The love that Conner has for his brother is what everyone should have for their sibling. This story is one of the most inspiring stories that I have read.  

No comments:

Post a Comment