LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A series of photographs have gone viral after the inspiring end of a 10K race Saturday in Kentucky.
The photos are not of the winner but of a woman determined not to give up, crossing the finish line hand-in-hand with her son and an officer from the Louisville Metro Police Department.
“When you see the photo, just know that you’re worth it and you can do anything that you can do anything that you put your mind to,” said Asia Ford, who is 217 pounds lighter than she was two years ago.
She has been on a journey to strong and healthy for her three children.
“I just knew that all of those time that we went to the doctor’s office and the doctor told us what could have happened, I wasn’t going to let that happen to me,” Ford said.
Quitting was not an option for Ford. But after about 5 miles, with just more than a mile to go, she began to wonder if she could finish.
“My breath was kind of like, it felt like it was taken from me,” she said.
That’s when emergency medical services personnel became concerned.
“The EMS guys got out and talked to her, went to check on her,” police Lt. Aubrey Gregory said. “And she was like, ‘I’m not stopping. I’m not stopping.’ So she kept going.”
According to Ford, the police officer asked her: “You’re going to finish the race, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“And I said I’m not going to let her stop. We’re going to do this together,” said Gregory, who then got out of his vehicle. “She grabbed my hand. I grabbed her hand.”
Holding hands with her son and Gregory, Ford finished the race.
“Watching her go across that line, raising her hands, I felt that all over,” the officer said. “It was a great moment.”