Marjan Holbrook and her daughter Rebecca got a helping hand from nurse Gary Harris. (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta)
A Georgia mother-daughter team crossed the finish line of a 5K race Sunday after a nurse they knew stepped in to offer a helping hand.
Marjan Holbrook and her daughter Rebecca, 8, were registered to run the Publix Georgia Marathon 5K March 22, but cold weather and rain threatened to ruin their excitement. Marjan has asthma that flares up in the rain and cold, and Rebecca has mitochondrial disease, which makes her susceptible to seizures in the cold, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Marjan said the weather turned the situation stressful, and she was ready to call her husband to tell him she wasn’t running unless a nurse or a doctor was on standby for her and her daughter.
“It was even better than that,” Marjan told Channel 2 Action News. “I had a nurse pushing her,” she said. Shortly before the race, Gary Harris, a nurse who had treated Rebecca at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta spotted the Holbrooks at the race tent and came over.
“He came over and said, ‘Hi,’ and I said, ‘Gary, it’s good to see you, but I don’t think we’re going to be running this morning,’” Holbrook told the news station.
But Harris, who had registered to run the Publix Half Marathon, had another idea and told Holbrook he wanted to push Rebecca in her wheelchair during the race.
They completed the race 27 minutes later and finished first in their division, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Stay up-to-date on the biggest health and wellness news with our weekly recap.