Help Jerry Run Towards His Goals

Jerry may very well be one of the most inspiring people I have ever met! He is a legally blind runner and Achilles International athlete, running marathons throughout the country. Jerry is from the Caribbean. He moved to Maryland to continue his educational pursuit of becoming an engineer. Shortly after his move to Maryland, at the age of 21, he began experiencing loss of sight. After treatment for what was initially thought to be inflamed nerves and much testing, he was diagnosed with optic neuropathy.

After his diagnosis, Jerry started running on the treadmill as a way to clear his mind. He started with 3 miles and is now on the verge of completing his 6th marathon. He will be running the Marine Corp Marathon in October. Jerry joined Achilles in 2016 when he moved to Arizona. Jerry shares memories of watching Olympic running events with his Mom and telling himself he could never do something like that. He credits sight loss as the thing that has allowed him to see his true potential and push himself. He is challenging himself to a PR and beat his 4:20 marathon time finish. Jerry requires two guides for his races.

What I love about Jerry is his infectious spirit of gratitude and dedication to give back to others. Jerry completed the adult comprehensive program at the Foundation for Blind Children in 2018 and has since participated as a guest speaker multiple times a year. He hopes to encourage kids living with visual impairment to pursue their dreams and not limit themselves. He wants to encourage them to realize their full potential.

As you can imagine, running requires training. Training for Jerry means using Uber to get to and from all race training. This is something he does 3 to 4 times a week, on top of using Uber to get to and from work almost every day. Cost associated with this service run $800 a month on the low end.

Jerry is incredibly inspiring, giving and full of gratitude. Let’s help him in the pursuit of his running dreams by contributing to transportation funds needed for training.