Blind high school runner and teammates collaborate with such ease that the extraordinary becomes ordinary
On a cloudless spring afternoon on the crowded Glenwood South track, Tommy C. placed his hand on the back of Shin T.'s elbow. He didn't let go until they had finished the first stretch of a 2 1/2-mile lung-burning training run, matching strides as they moved, connected, around the track.
Most afternoons, Tommy and his teammates form these rare duets in the individual sport of distance running, Tommy occasionally serving as a motivator, his teammates always serving as the eyes Tommy lost by age 2.
The 17-year-old junior and his teenage teammates collaborate on his running career with such ease that their teamwork, extraordinary as it is, becomes ordinary. Just like Tommy.
"The best thing about Tommy is he doesn't act like (he's blind)," Glenwood South assistant track coach Chris H. said. "He just does what everybody else does."
And maybe a little more.
Bilateral retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes, claimed Tommy's first eye when he was 13 months old. Shortly after his second birthday, he lost his other eye.
As Tommy recovered from his surgeries and was fitted with prosthetic eyes, his parents read everything they could and contacted various organizations for help, said his mother, Kristi Tommy. She then started going to park district classes with her son, who was willing to try everything.
"The big goal was to make him independent. He's going to live as an adult?he just won't be able to see," Kristi T. said. "Whenever he tries something new, there's an element of danger. We're cautious, but he's gotten to where he is today because we've allowed him to do whatever activity he wants to."
Tommy C. tells the following story with a palpable pride for how his parents raised him.
He was about 5 years old and standing at the base of an escalator at a mall with his mother, who was trying to verbally guide him on to the moving stairs. Afraid and unable to find the railing, Tommy threw a tantrum, attracting several onlookers who were appalled that his mother wouldn't physically help him.
"My parents are probably my harshest critics, but in a good way," Tommy said. "That's the story of how everything goes. They make me do it. There are no excuses. It increases resourcefulness."
Tommy figured out the escalator, just as he figured out each activity on his ever-growing list of accomplishments. He has played the recorder, the piano and the guitar. He plays the drums in a band that has a steady lineup of gigs in the north suburbs and played at the Elbo Room in Chicago this winter.
Interested in the music industry and broadcast journalism, he had his own radio show at Glenwood South and will attend a five-week journalism program at Northwestern this summer. He has a 4.6 GPA on a 4.0 scale and takes AP courses.
He has skied, done karate, completed triathlons, wrestled for Glenwood South and he became such an impressive skateboarder that he attracted the attention of legend Tony Hawk.
In 2008, Hawk found Tommy through an online video and flew to Chicago to skate with and interview him for a video. Afterward, Hawk wrote about Tommy in his journal
"The kid goes for it and is not afraid to fall. I was most impressed with his backside revert technique," Hawk wrote. "As a ramp skater, backside reverts are one of the last things to learn because you are blind to the ramp when coming down. But then I realized that he's always blind to the ramp. It doesn't make it any less dangerous though, and I am amazed at his tenacity and easygoing approach to life."
The American Printing House for the Blind counts more than 58,000 legally blind students registered in the United States, the majority of which attend mainstream schools. More than 60 percent of those students do not participate in their physical education classes because they are not adapted, according toMark Lucas, executive director of the United States Association of Blind Athletes.
The organization did not have participation rates of blind athletes in mainstream high school sports, but based on the physical education statistics, Lucas said the numbers are likely very low.
After completing three triathlons when he was younger, Tommy took up cross-country and track in sixth grade.
In training, his teammates volunteer to be his guide, and Tommy is happy to run with whoever is up for the task. As Tommy holds his teammates' elbows, they guide him along training and race courses, verbalizing the distances, obstacles and terrain, which is more difficult to navigate in cross-country.
"The main things we have to look out for are curbs because they trip him up, rocks and tree branches," said Dilan W., a junior who ran a 1,600 interval with Tommy at a recent practice. "Sometimes we push him, and other times he pushes us. It builds a team relationship because we have to work together. There are a lot of benefits from it."
Before races, the Glenwood South coaches inform meet officials because pacing by a noncompetitor and holding on to another runner are usually illegal. The coaches said they haven't had any problems with officials.
"When he first got here, we thought, ?Oh, how are we going to do this?'" Chris said. "What made it really great was his teammates are so willing to pitch in. They'll say, ?Hey, I'll take him for this run.' We never had to assign it to anyone."
Tommy has become fast enough that in races he uses multiple guide runners, usually teammates who already have run their events. The faster he becomes, the more he struggles balancing personal ambition with the needs of the teammates who help him.
"Sometimes it does get frustrating when it gets to a point where I'm faster than some people and not quite up to another group," he said. "I want to let people get their races in, but sometimes we have to find people who will sacrifice their races to help me. It's finding that balance between what's best for me and what's best for the team."
Running with Glenwood South's top four distance runners last week, Tommy chopped his 1,600 run time to 5 minutes, 10 seconds?a 16-second personal record?in a meet at Glenwood North. He runs in about the middle of South's pack and hopes to break 5 minutes by the time he graduates. In an outdoor meet this week at Niles North, he ran the 800 in 2:21.
The running pairings draw their share of attention at meets, including one unknowing runner who scolded Tommy and his racing partner for an unfair advantage, until they related that Tommy was blind. "And then we creamed him," Tommy said with a smile.
But for every uninformed comment, there are supporters letting Tommy know their admiration, including Chris's 11-year-old son, who usually asks about Tommy's races before inquiring about Glenwood South's defending state champion sprinter.
"I definitely appreciate it. To motivate people is great," said Tommy, who also won a gold medal in the 1,500 and a silver medal in the 800 in his class at the IBSA (International Blind Sports Federation) World Youth and Student Championships last summer in Colorado Springs.
"There are a lot of people that aren't motivated these days. Everybody should try anything they have the opportunity to try. You should never count yourself out. If I can inspire people to go out and try new things and not be down on themselves, then I think I'm really successful."
What are some of the things in your life that you have written off as impossible? Or as being too hard? As Tommy has shown us, these obstacles are only as large as we make them. Share this story with someone you think might need some inspiration in overcoming obstacles.
