Olympian inspires Green Country girl
| Updated: 8/02/2012 9:22 am |
Published: 8/01/2012 6:28 pm
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Oscar Pistorius, a South African sprinter, will make Olympic history this week as the first athlete to compete with a prosthetic limb.
He's inspiring eight-year-old Hannah Hewett, who had her legs amputated shortly after birth, to dream of capturing the gold.
However, right now she’s living for the competition.
"It feels fun," said Hannah.
She might run out of words but her father, John Hewett, says she never runs out of effort, energy, or a positive attitude.
"She's always happy,” Hewett said. “You'll never hear her be negative about her condition."
He adopted Hannah when she was six-months old. She was born without a tibia, the larger and stronger leg bone, in both legs. However, it hasn't stopped her.
"Disabled people just don't know what the word disabled means,” Hewett told FOX23. “They just have a tendency to overcome anything."
Hannah did just that at the National Junior Disability Championship. She won first place in all her events: The 60, 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes. Hannah improved all her times. Hewett said the best one was the 400 meter dash.
"Specifically in the 400, that's almost unheard of for a child double above the knee amputee, 8 year-old running 400 meter sprint,” he said.
Hannah finished the race in 2 minutes and 13 seconds.
"I'm a proud daddy," he said.
Hannah says her motivation comes from Philippians 4:13.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," she said.
"If we trust in God and trust in ourselves we can do amazing things," Hewett added.
The amazing thing here is this eight-year-old is only getting started.
"Me and you get the sniffles and we hang it up for a day. They wake up every morning and in order to run across the street they have to put their legs on. It's very inspiring," Hewett said.
He told FOX23 he developed Parkinson’s disease six months ago. Hewett says he’s motivated by his daughter now. Her courage on the track inspires him to fight harder each day.
Hannah's goal is to one day run in the Paralympics. She also plays soccer, basketball and swims.
You can follow her on Facebook.
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