Roy Exum: The America We Don't See

  • Tuesday, March 24, 2015
  • Roy Exum
With her son TJ on one side and Police Lt. Aubrey Gregory on the other, Asia Ford (who once weighed 475 pounds) finishes the Rhodes City Run in Louisville, Ky. She finished third from last but tweeted, "You don't have to be 1st ... as long as u don't give up
and u finish ... you are a winner!" The picture immediately went viral and millions around the world have now seen it.
With her son TJ on one side and Police Lt. Aubrey Gregory on the other, Asia Ford (who once weighed 475 pounds) finishes the Rhodes City Run in Louisville, Ky. She finished third from last but tweeted, "You don't have to be 1st ... as long as u don't give up and u finish ... you are a winner!" The picture immediately went viral and millions around the world have now seen it.

There was a special ceremony in Louisville, Ky., Monday afternoon that should have never taken place. That said, I would have given anything to have been there. The three people who were being honored included an over-weight black lady, a white cop and a picture-taker who, by fate alone, were drawn together in the Rhodes City Run, a 10-kilometer race in downtown Louisville.

The Rhodes City Run is no ordinary race. Originally started 35 years ago by a fashionable clothing store, it has raised almost a million dollars for charities in Kentucky and, with nearly 8,000 entered this year, is one of the top 20 6.2-mile races in America.

Last Saturday, with the most buzz in town centered on whether Rick Pitino could somehow engineer a win for Louisville’s basketball team to advance to the “Sweet 16” in the NCAA tournament, the popular race was destined for the back page of the sports section.

But, because of fate, it wound up on the front page of the Louisville Courier Journal and soon it went viral, with literally millions of hits all around the world.

Ironically, it was what happened long after the best athletes had finished. Metro Police Lt. Aubrey Gregory was assigned the role as “Incident Commander” for the race and everything was going so smoothly he dropped his cruiser in at the back of the race, watching the laggers and those forced to walk bring up the rear.

His well-versed eyes settled on a very heavy black woman, who we now know is an absolutely delightful champion named Asia. Lt. Gregory, eased his police car right behind her and could see she was struggling so he got out, caught up with her, and saw she was having breathing problems. He keyed his body radio and summoned the ambulance crew.

But before he could ask her any questions she told him, no, that she wasn’t quitting. She’s worked too hard to get where she was and that, by golly, she was going to finish if she had to crawl. Lt. Gregory, waved the medics off but continued to watch her closely because she was really laboring and had another two miles to go.

So this cop walks back to his cruiser, tells his partner that he’s going to watch her the rest of the way and to meet him at the finish line with the patrol car. Then he approaches Asia for the second time. “As soon as I walked up to her, she grabbed my hand. I asked her if she wanted to stop and she shook her head so … I said ‘Good, then we are going to do this together.”

And so they did.

As the police lieutenant supported her arm and gave her renewed strength, she told him that she once weighed 475 pounds but after her husband lost a leg because of diabetes, she was determined to lose weight and “the Rodes” was a major goal of hers. She also thought about what might happen to her children if she became a victim of her weight. "That is when I woke up and I couldn't allow them to be on this earth without my help and the only way I would be able to help them is if I helped myself first," she said

Watching the policeman comfort and laugh with his mom, her grinning son walked up and supported his mom’s other arm. “You know, with all the stuff that's going on with police, it's just nice to know there are nice people out there," he said in a warm way.

When the huge crowd gathered at the finish line caught sight of the black woman being assisted by the white cop. The throng went wild! Later Lt. Gregory told the TV cameras, “It’s not always ‘what bleeds leads,’” he smiled. “It’s not always about the bad things that happen and seem to dominate our news media and social media.

“With positive successes like Asia’s, and my opportunity to be there and help her achieve that … people still care enough and want to see that and be part of that and share it with your friends and family,” the police offer said.

“To see Asia accomplish what she did, really made my own heart swell. That joy spreads out and suddenly it is you who gets the tingly goosebumps all over. Seriously, that is what I felt watching her approach the finish line and I started to hear more and more people cheer and yell for her. When she raised her arms in triumph as she crossed the finish line, it became a very, very special moment I’ll never forget.”

The now-famous photo, attracting People magazine, USA Today and even foreign news outlets, caused Asia to call out Lt. Gregory on Facebook. Her post read, “messed up and forgot to eat this morning, Lungs still under construction from the pneumonia and on top of all this at mile 4 my son TJ took my hand and EMS stopped because I almost had a slip up with my breathing but a police officer by the name of Mr Gregory got out and took my hand to finish the race with my baby and I and WE MADE IT!!! This 6.2 miles meant more to me than any race ever so my message today is, You don't have to be 1st, AS LONG AS U DON'T GIVE UP AND U FINISH...YOU ARE A WINNER ( :”

My sentiments exactly … America finally won one.

royexum@aol.com

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