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Wilma Rudolph

by Jennifer from Marietta

While some kids can walk well & are enjoying their days by playing or doing what they like to do, other kids are struggling with legs that don't want to work just as well as the other kids or might even be struggling with both legs. Wilma Rudolph is a hero because she showed the world that a kid that doesn't want to work right, can work & become world's fastest runner. Wilma's childhood was really tough on her. Her family had to go through THE GREAT DEPRESSION. An example of smart thinking is that her parents made her brother's & sister's clothes out of used flour bags! Another reason that shows that she's heroic is that she had polio at the few years that she had. The doctor said that she wasn't going to be able to walk again.

Her mother insisted on taking her to a special hospital. Her mother had to walk almost 50 miles to get all the way to the hospital with her. Every time she had the therapies she was getting better at walking. Her brothers & sisters also help her with her therapies at home & did every single exercise that the doctor had showed them to do. Soon she was able to take little steps with the help of her family. Her family still had hope that she would still be able to walk or even run. Wilma had hope in herself that she would be able to walk. This is what she said to encourage herself. "I'm in my prime. There's no goal too far, no mountain too high." Wilma Rudolph. She kept practicing & soon she was showing her mom in the front yard that she could walk without anyone having to support her. Her mom was so surprised that she was actually able to walk therapy after therapy. She soon entered school at the age of 7 in 1947. She entered junior high in 1963 at the age of sixteen. Her sister was in a basketball girls' team that's what inspired Wilma to join a tracking team.




Page created on 5/14/2013 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 5/14/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Related Links

Wilma Rudolph - Encyclopedia.com includes chronology