Kayla Montgomery featured in CNN's 'Human to Heroes' series
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Kayla Montgomery has just completed her freshman year, and she is already making an impact on the Lipscomb University cross country and track and field programs as a distance runner.
But is making a bigger impact to her teammates, classmates and people around the world because of her grit and determination and her inspiring story of perseverance and courage.
On Thursday, May 7, a crew from CNN visited the Lipscomb campus to interview Montgomery for a segment on CNN International’s “Humans to Heroes” series. In the segment, Montgomery talks about what it’s like to be a college athlete with multiple sclerosis. (Watch the video here.) The segment aired on CNNi on May 21, and could air the last week of May on CNN in conjunction with World MS Day on May 27.
At age 15, Montgomery was diagnosed with MS, a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord resulting in loss of muscle control, vision, balance and numbness. With clearance from her doctors, she turned those effects on her body into a technique that has helped her defy the medical odds against her and to excel as a runner. Because MS blocks the nerve signals from her legs to her brain, Montgomery is able to move at steady speeds that cause other runners pain. She can’t feel the pain, but at the end of a race when she stops putting one foot in front of the other, she collapses as her legs become unstable. Her Bison coaches are always there to catch her.
During her senior year at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, N.C., Montgomery became one of the fastest young distance runners in the country. Her phenomenal success drew the attention of university cross country and track and field programs across the country. But, she said, in an interview with the New York Times, that when most coaches found out she has MS, they didn’t call her back. Bill Taylor, director of cross country and track and field at Lipscomb, called her back. He saw something in Montgomery that he knew would be a fit for Lipscomb University.
Her story has been featured in numerous media outlets across the country including the New York Times, ESPN’s E:60 series, the Rachael Ray Show and on WSMV-Nashville.