A white plaster cast is Cassandra Tusa’s unusual badge of honour from the Manitoba Marathon.
The 11-year-old laced up her sneakers for Sunday’s run, but took a nasty fall right near the starting line.
“I was trying to pass this lady and her foot was there and I fell, and the curb was right there and fell wrong on my arm,” Cassandra said.
But instead of stopping for help, she kept running the 4.2 kilometre SuperRun race, with a broken arm.
“I was crying it just hurt so bad, but I just wanted to finished, I wasn’t going to quit just because my arm was broken, I mean come on,” she said.
Not only did she cross the finish line, but she beat her time from last year by six minutes.
Her mom, who also ran the race, wasn’t surprised by her daughter’s determination.
“Cassandra is a very tough girl and she is very determined when she sets her mind to something,” said Karen Tusa.
Cassandra crossed the finish line in just over 30 minutes, then headed straight to the medical tent. After being checked out, she got a police escort to the ER.
“I had to make a lot of trips to the emergency, and some not so good, and it was really nice to have an amazing experience like this,” her mom said, “The people were so nice and loving on her and encouraging her and congratulating her for finished with a broken arm.”
Adrenaline may have kicked in, but marathon organizers wouldn’t advise that injured people continue to run, like Cassandra.
“Oh my goodness, no, I’m advocating, “˜listen to your body, listen to your body,’” said organizer Shirley Lumb, “It will tell you what you can and cannot do and you need to pay attention to that all the time.”
But Cassandra said she wouldn’t change a thing.
“I guess if I had to do it again I would because I always wanted a cast,” Cassandra said, “I don’t want to live my life with out a cast because everybody gets one in their life…”
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