11-yo Girl Wins 3 Gold Medals Running In Custom-made Surgical Bandage ‘Nike’ Shoes
As children. Our parents and instructors encouraged us to dream big. No dream is too huge if you have the determination and strength to pursue it. Enormous aspirations, on the other hand, can necessitate big sacrifices and even bigger investments.
Rhea Ballos, an 11-year-old girl from the Philippines, is an avid runner. She is a competitive athlete who competes in every tournament and race she can find.
However, there is one snag. Rhea doesn’t own a pair of suitable running shoes, despite her larger-than-life love of jogging.
Her family is not well-off, and they couldn’t afford to buy her even the most basic sports equipment to fulfill her dream.
Rhea’s lack of footwear turned out to be the least of her troubles. Predirick B. Valenzuela recently posted on Facebook that she had won three gold medals in the Iloilo Sports Council Meet while representing her school.
In the primary school category for girls, she won the 400m dash, 800m dash, and even the 1500m dash. What is the key to her success? The improvised shoes she made out of surgical bandages.
Yes, it is correct. Rhea ran barefoot through all three races, with only a small layer of fabric protecting her feet! The world-famous Nike ‘swoosh,’ which she had hand-drawn on the top of the bandage with the brand name printed on the side, is the icing on the cake.
It may sound foolish, but Rhea’s motivation to win those races came from picturing her bandage shoes as a high-end pair of Nikes. She was tenacious, and she never let her lack of finances dissuade her from pursuing her goals.
Jeff Cariaso, the head coach of the Alaska Aces, a pro basketball team in the Philippines, was impressed by her accomplishment and reached out to her with the support of his Twitter followers.
He posted an update on his online meet-up with the great runner, revealing that he had even managed to contact Rhea’s adviser. Let’s hope Rhea receives the assistance and support she requires to realize her dream.
Rhea demonstrated to us that sometimes all that matters in life is to Just Do It.