{"id":301173,"date":"2023-11-07T12:50:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T18:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=301173"},"modified":"2023-11-07T09:28:44","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T15:28:44","slug":"trail-blazing-woman-down-syndrome-nyc-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trail-blazing-woman-down-syndrome-nyc-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Trail blazing’ woman with Down syndrome completes NYC Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kayleigh Williamson, a marathoner with Down syndrome, has already made history several times… but she’s just done it again, becoming one of the first women with Down syndrome to finish the New York City Marathon.<\/p>\n

Williamson became the first person with Down syndrome to complete the Austin Marathon<\/a> last year, and in 2017, she was the first person with Down syndrome to finish the Austin Half Marathon. Earlier this year, she also ran the Boston Marathon<\/a>. She trains alongside her mother, Sandy Williamson, who told Fox 7 Austin, “I\u2019ve always raised Kayleigh that you don\u2019t let what others think you can and cannot do cap you.”<\/p>\n

The mother-daughter duo didn’t always have it easy; doctors were not optimistic about Kayleigh’s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment she was born, I was told everything she couldn\u2019t do,\u201d Sandy told KVUE<\/a> last year, saying doctors urged her to either place Kayleigh with an adoptive family or put her into an institution. Neither was an option \u2014 even after Kayleigh’s father abandoned them. They persevered, however, and turned to running to combat health problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2008, Kayleigh was diagnosed with ITP \u2013 low blood platelets \u2013 and we didn\u2019t know why,” Sandy said. “Then she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and then hyperthyroidism. She was 215 pounds, she had sleep apnea, she was pre-diabetic.” Kayleigh’s grandmother encouraged the family to make some healthy changes, which started with walking and eventually, led to running. And it’s made a huge difference. “She\u2019s no longer pre-diabetic, she no longer has sleep apnea,” Sandy said.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Kayleigh’s grandmother \u2014 who put her on the path towards running \u2014 died of Alzheimer’s disease, and it’s that memory that pushes Kayleigh to keep going. “My grandma always told me to run fast,” she said, adding that when she runs, she feels she can hear her grandmother speaking to her.<\/p>\n

Together, mother and daughter took on the New York City Marathon, and finished… with an emotional video of Kayleigh crying as she crossed the finish line going viral. Shared by the official New York City Marathon Instagram page, it’s been liked hundreds of thousands of times, and racked up over 10,000 comments congratulating Kayleigh.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by TCS New York City Marathon (@nycmarathon)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n