The Running Dream

That evening, Jessica’s family settles in and waits for the news special to begin. After innumerable other stories and commercials, Jessica sees reporter Marla Sumner on television, introducing Jessica’s story. When the camera shows footage of Jessica walking across the track, all she notices is that “my gait is still uneven” (245). The footage then shows her coach extolling her abilities and how much they all went to get her back on the track again. Then Sumner notes that this dream could become a reality, except that the price tag for a running prosthesis is twenty-thousand dollars. At this point, the coverage focuses on the track team and their efforts to raise money, and how much her teammates admire and respect her.

Jessica then sees herself on the camera, repeating Coach Kyro’s invaluable advice that “life isn’t about what happens to you, it’s about what you do about what happens to you” (247). The voiceover explains that Jessica can’t run on a regular prosthesis, and needs one explicitly designed for running to be able to achieve her dream. The segment ends with a graphic containing donation information for Jessica’s cause.

At the anchor desk, Sumner talks with her co-anchor briefly about the money problems the Carlisles have encountered because of the