On September 17, 2022, a father and son set out to begin the first of three legs of the Ironman competition in Oxford. David, 59, and his son, John, 28, weren’t the typical competitors. Despite difficulty in walking, John has his dream of being an athlete. His father would act as his arms and legs, carrying the weight of his son throughout the race.

To qualify as having finished, competitors must complete a hard 140 miles of swimming, bicycling and running in under 17 hours. David and John had participated together in five Ironman competitions, but they had yet to finish in the required time.

The race began with a 2.4-mile swim in the Choptank River. With one end of a rope tied to a belt around his back and the other end to a boat with his son inside, the father eased himself into the water. Swimming while carrying another person is tough enough — David also had to fight with jellyfish (水母).

The pair completed the swim in 90 minutes, and went through with the 112-mile bicycle ride in about nine hours, then set their sights on the final leg of the 26.2-mile marathon with David pushing John in the racing chair.

With minutes left and 200 feet to the finish line, his mom, on the sidelines, handed him the rolling walker. Not that long ago, John could hardly walk 23 steps. But after years of painful training, he increased his step count and was determined to finish the race on his own. He knew time was almost running out and worried they wouldn’t make the cutoff. “Not because I wouldn’t get my moment,” he says, “but because dad had worked so hard.”

After 16 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds — with just four minutes and 25 seconds to spare — father and son crossed the finish line together.

As the crowd flooded and cheered on John, the weary father kept a low profile. “He didn’t want his finish line moment,” says John. “He wanted it to be mine.”

Before my family moved to a new home in Eldridge, my 6-year-old son Hayden had shared a room with his sister. Now his sister excitedly had her own room. But the boy refused to sleep alone. “Bad guys will attack (攻击) me at night. I’m afraid of them,” said the boy.

I’d tried everything to get him sleep in his own room, but nothing was helping. Hayden said he couldn’t stop the terrible thoughts. He asked me to call the police to help him. At first, I was afraid that the police officers would pay no attention to us. But, after I took Hayden to the Eldridge Police Department, he made friends with Officer Schwartz at once.

In the Eldridge Police Department, Hayden talked with Officer Schwartz. Then, Officer Schwartz came over to our home. He fully inspected my son’s bedroom to make him believe that there were no bad guys in his room. Schwartz said to my son, “I experienced such thoughts before bedtime, too. But I always made them go away by thinking about happier things instead.” Hayden slept alone in his room for the first time that night.

But Schwartz’s bad guy fighting skills did not stop. The next day, Officer Schwartz returned to our home for a follow-up and to send Hayden off to his first day of school. I am more than thankful that Officer Schwartz took time out of his busy day to talk with Hayden. I know he will remember the kindness he has shown him forever.