{"id":247945,"date":"2021-06-26T11:21:25","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T16:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=247945"},"modified":"2021-06-25T16:40:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T21:40:22","slug":"down-syndrome-teen-triathlon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-teen-triathlon\/","title":{"rendered":"Mentor inspires 14-year-old with Down syndrome to complete mini-triathlon\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Caleb Prewitt, a 14-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, never dreamed of being the youngest person with Down syndrome to run a mini-triathlon or of being invited to participate in the Special Olympics. Yet<\/span>\u00a0that is exactly what the inspiring teen has achieved thanks to the mentorship of his role model, Chris Nikic<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, 21-year-old Nikic made history by becoming the first person with Down syndrome to ever cross the finish line of the Ironman. The athletic event is considered one of the most grueling in the world, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a moving interview with <\/span>CBS News<\/span><\/a>, Caleb\u2019s mother, Karen, shared how her son could barely ride a bike or swim before meeting Nikic. But with Nikic\u2019s mentorship, it wasn\u2019t long before Caleb\u2019s love of video games was swapped for swimming, running, and biking.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was a poster with Chris on it, it would be in Caleb’s room,\u201d Karen said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caleb finished his first mini-triathlon last weekend and has also received an invitation to compete on Florida’s Special Olympics triathlon team \u2014 the same team Chris is on.\u00a0<\/span>Karen credits Nikic with showing her son that his dreams are possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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