A veteran Brooklyn marathoner, Michael Ring, 61, had spent decades running and organizing marathons since he was a senior in high school. However, after a severe case of food poisoning, Ring began falling and dropping things. Turns out, he had Guillian-Barré which caused him to suffer severe muscle weakness. Ten years later, and after spending months in the hospital and undergoing surgeries, he is ready to run the TCS New York City Marathon.
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When Ring visited Boston to spectate the Boston Marathon in 2014, he visited a BBQ joint with his friends. He ate some chicken which he would later regret. He suffered a case of food poisoning that lasted for three days. Little did he know that the chicken he ate was going to bring long-term consequences to his health.
While organizing a 100-mile bike tour, his boss noticed Ring's falls and his multiple instances of dropping things. "He took me aside and said, 'I don't talk about this, but I'm a cancer survivor. I'm saying that to scare you. Call your doctor. This is weird,'" Ring told the New York Post.
Ring then visited the doctor who diagnosed him with Guillian-Barré. According to Mayo Clinic, this syndrome is a condition that attacks the nerves, causing "weakness, numbness or paralysis."
As is the case with Michael Ring, this condition is most commonly triggered after a severe case of campylobacter infection. Unfortunately, this condition caused acute motor axonal neuropathy, a symptom of a very rare variant of Guillain-Barré that causes even more severe weakness and paralysis.
Learning To Walk
Ring started receiving treatment, including chemotherapy, and he eventually embarked on a slow process of physical therapy. He ended up spending 135 in the hospital where he had to learn how to walk all over again. However, what motivated him through this time was his relationship with his twins.
"When I was in the hospital, missing races, missing the things I registered for, a shrink came in to chat with me, asked me what was important," said Ring. He always thought that his physical resistance and prowess were to set the example for his children. However, now that he is unable to, he instead seeks to be a role model to his twins by overcoming his condition.
Through the past decade, Ring has undergone 10 different surgeries and he continues his physical therapies every two weeks. Now, he uses carbon-fiber ankle braces that help him move around and he has his fingers reshaped so that he can hold onto things easier.
He started marathoning again in 2017, although it was understandably way harder than before. Last year, he was able to finish the NYC Marathon in 8 hours, 36 minutes, and 15 seconds. He is now preparing himself to run this Sunday's NYC Marathon to continue defying the odds and being an inspiration to others.
"I'm going to start 40 minutes before the elite men, and everyone's going to pass me, all 55,000 people," he said. "My Achilles guides are like my offensive linebackers. They'll run behind me for the first half of the race so that people don't crash into me in the second half of the race."
