Amputee Runs Toward Lifelong Dream Against the Odds in Flint, Michigan
Every year bright and early on Crim race day, Tina Eisenbeis parks her big blue London Strong hummer along the 10-mile course.
She cheers on runners and motivates them, even blasting the song “Eye of the Tiger” from the hummer.
This year just as she was about to pack up and leave...
"Our eyes couldn’t believe what we were seeing, there was this guy coming down the road, one leg, doing the Crim," said Eisenbeis.
Tina found herself in a race to grab her phone and had her husband she capture video of the man beating the odds to chase after a lifelong dream.
“Growing up and seeing them you know run through the city, and seeing the community come together, Oh I was just like I want to do this,” said Ricky Evans.
43-year-old Ricky Evans always fantasized about running the Crim ten mile road race in Flint, but a childhood sports injury turned out to be far more serious than a broken bone in his leg.
“I took a helmet to the femur, and broke my femur bone, found out I had cancer,” said Evans.
Doctors discovered Osteosarcoma in his femur. At age thirteen, he beat the cancer, but he struggled with complications from the harsh treatments for years. At age 30, a staff infection forced Ricky to make a life or death decision. Doctors had to amputate his leg to keep him alive.
"You know losing the leg, it was like setback after setback after setback and it always seemed like the dream was never going to happen,” said Evans.
The thought of running the Crim was living in the shadows, but this year was different. Ricky was ready to step into the light after receiving a new prosthetic.
“New leg. It’s too long. So, I’m wearing my old leg, totally broke it, so it was like I am not gonna be able to do the Crim this year," said Evans.
The prosthetics costs tens of thousands of dollars. He couldn’t afford to repair or adjust them. That's when he decided to do the race without them.
“I am gonna do it one leg, and everybody was like no way, like okay, you’re gonna do it one leg,” said Evans.
Ricky’s wife Christine was terrified, but told him she would never stand in the way of his dream. Ricky signed up to run the ten mile road race.
“It was work, it was work,” he said. “I think I took a million breaks, because once you start going up the hills, like flat surfaces I was good.”
He said the people along the course kept him motivated. He found a stick to use to help him keep his balance.
"The people, the people you could feel it, you could feel the love, like I wasn’t just running for me, I was running for everybody," said Evans.
The CEO of the Crim Fitness Foundation said that's what makes the Crim Festival of Races so special.
"It's really the people along the race. If you talk to the running community there’s a lot of races that just don’t have the support the entire way," said Lauren Holly-Zembo."
Ricky’s biggest supporter to keep him going was a volunteer behind him in a red truck.
“He was just outside my truck window the whole way back to the end of the race, and he and I had a lot of conversations about a lot of things," said Jerry Baker.
Jerry Baker's job is to keep an eye on the last runner. He stayed with Ricky as long as could before having to turn off just shy of the finish line.
“I gave him a hug. I told him he was doing a great job," said Baker. “A lot of people can run the Crim, a lot of people don’t finish the Crim… if a one legged guy can do it… anybody can!"
Four Hours and 58 minutes after he set out on what many believed was an impossible journey, Ricky crossed the finish line.
“It was amazing. I’ve seen Ricky do some amazing things, but that was for him, you know, that wasn’t for anybody else, and he doesn’t have a lot of those, so it was amazing to watch that,” said his wife Christin Evans.
Ricky proudly wears his Crim finisher medal everywhere he goes and says this won't be his last race.
“I wear my medal all the time, all the time. At that moment I was a racer. I was running. I was in the Crim. I was doing my dream," said Ricky Evans.