We were honored to get to know many of the Para-athletes in Beijing. They all have incredible stories to tell and we are proud of all of them. One young lady, we failed to get to know much. Her name was Marin Morrison. Marin came to our attention through a mutual friend, Glenn Mills, who was instrumental in setting up Dave's original website and produces Dave's swimming DVD's.
Marin was an up and coming swimmer when she was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2005. Yep, the same year, Dave broke his back. Marin had several surgeries but was still training in the water. She, too, tried out for the Paralympic team in Minneapolis. We were able to talk to some her family/fans but still didn't meet her. She made the team just like David did. She went home to celebrate with another surgery just like David did. Her surgery was again on her brain - Dave's was on his spinal cord. Marin was quite a fighter and battled her deteriorating health all summer long. It seemed to us that it was a touch and go situation and her dream of participating in the Paralympics might not come true. She wasn't able to be with the team the entire time but she did make it to Beijing and she swam all her events.
When a person competes in the Paralympics, s/he has to be classified according to disability. This isn't an ongoing thing - classification seems to be set for a period of time before an athlete can be re-classified. Therefore, Marin was classified at a certain level but by the time she swam in the Paralympics her disability had further deteriorated. She basically swam all her races with one arm and bit of a kick with one leg. And she did that up against less disabled athletes. On one of her races, the entire crowd in the Cube stood and cheered her on. Another moment for tears to stream down faces.
I am sad to report that Marin passed away on January 2. Her family will be setting up a memorial scholarship to remember her courageous life. You can check out the details at their website: http://www.caringbridge.org/ga/marin/. While we didn't get to meet her personally, we do admire what she accomplished in her young life.
