AMPUTEE Christabell Drayton, 39, celebrated life on Thursday by competing in her first ever 5K race, the annual Sweaters 5K Fun Run/Walk, in Sangre Grande.
Drayton, who lost her left leg to cancer at age seven, completed the event on crutches, urged on by her boyfriend and stunned onlookers.
As she made her way through the heart of Sangre Grande, spectators applauded her and gave her words of encouragement.
“You can do it. Keep going!” they shouted.
Drayton, no stranger to overcoming challenges, maintained her steady pace to finish, even ahead of more able-bodied participants, in one hour and four minutes.
As she crossed the finish line to rapturous applause at Ojoe Road Recreation Ground, Drayton smiled and soaked in the adulation.
“What excuse I could have?” one man was heard saying on the pavement.
[caption id="attachment_1020563" align="alignnone" width="768"] Christabell Drayton with her medal after completing the annual Sweaters 5K Fun Run and Walk on Thursday in Sangre Grande. - Stephon Nicholas[/caption]
“It was good. It was a good run – walk,” a beaming Drayton told Sunday Newsday.
She added, “This is my first 5K. I just beat cancer (for a second time).”
She said her boyfriend Occie Pierre, a fitness enthusiast, encouraged her to take part.
Her training for the event began inadvertently when she was simply being a supportive girlfriend to Pierre, who was taking part in a fitness challenge.
“We started going to the gym together; walking around Eddie Hart (Savannah) to build stamina.”
As her fitness began to improve, her boyfriend told her he believed she could take part in a 5K herself.
She said he instilled confidence in her and she too began to believe.
“He kept coaching me. I never even thought about trying it, and then he pushed me to finish it.”
Drayton said the race is now the first of many and she wants to take part in the annual UWI Half-Marathon later this year.
Few will bet against Drayton, whose positive mindset and determination has augured well for her.
Last year, Drayton was again diagnosed with cancer, this time in her breast.
“I started to notice something was wrong in late 2021. It was a lump, really small. Didn’t look like anything. Looked like a bug bite. It then started to get bigger.”
While many would have felt overwhelmed and distraught by another monumental hurdle, Drayton took a different mindset.
[caption id="attachment_1020565" align="alignnone" width="681"] Christabell Drayton lost her left leg to cancer as a child. She is currently overcoming breast cancer with confidence. - Anisto Alves[/caption]
“It was very difficult. To be honest, at first I was like, ‘Oh gosh. I feel like I did my penance already. I have to do this again?’ And then I was like, yuh know what, yuh could do this. You pull up yuh big-girl socks. You’ve done it before and you could do it again. You have to be positive.”
She said although it took just a few days for the despondence to give way to positivity, she credits her parents for instilling toughness in her fro
