Paralympian runs with vision, thanks to mom - DesMoinesRegister.com

Pity was not permitted in the Brown household. Not with a single mom trying to raise two school-age children. Yes, disease was gradually stealing young David Brown's eyesight. It's one of the reasons why Brown may rank as the most inspirational of the 11,000 athletes flocking to Des Moines for this week's 106th annual Drake Relays. "It was a difficult situation," said Brown, now a 22-year-old Paralympic sprinter. A year ago, Brown set world records for the visually impaired by running the 100 meters in 10. 92 seconds and the 200 in 22. 41. To put that in perspective: Breaking 11 seconds in the 100 would have meant a top-eight finish in the Relays men's... "It's not even about me," Brown said. The origins of Brown's success are humble and heartbreaking. He was 15 months old when doctors diagnosed him with Kawasaki disease, an illness that can attack the lymph nodes, skin, mouth and eyes. Brown developed glaucoma at age 6, following a series of surgeries and medications. By the time he was 13, Brown was left with only a sense of light perception and the ability to distinguish some colors. "It was really frustrating," Brown recalled. Source: www.desmoinesregister.com