ST. LOUIS — There are plenty of 40-year-old women who can run as fast as she can, but there are none with the story of Ashley McFadden.
"So many times I've cried myself to sleep because the pain was too bad," McFadden said.
A few weeks ago, McFadden decided to be a part of the "Dopey Challenge" at Disney World. She raced as a part of the Jar of Hope Race Team, an organization that raises money for kids with muscular dystrophy.
Overcoming obstacles and illness is what she specialized in for more than three years now. Ashley McFadden is a COVID long-hauler.
"My kids are taking care of me versus me taking care of them," she said.
There was a spot on her lung emergency room, pneumonia and all those hospital visits.
"I think I've been to just about every hospital in St. Louis, and at least 10 specialists," she said.
Four months ago, a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, helped her situation. Acupuncture also helped her.
So did her job as a physical therapist, where Ashley got to know an orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Rick Lehman.
"He's my lifesaver. I would call him my life. Between my family, my best friend and him and my coworkers, Dr. Lehman has been there any hour of any day to help me try to get answers," she said.
"I think she was as bad as I've seen anybody at her low. So at her low, she was grasping at straws. She didn't know what to do," Lehman said. "She didn't know where to go. So I don't know that I've seen anybody as sick in someone as young."
And that's what makes this such an incredible story, because this woman, with her relentless resolve, kept training and training. There are still no real answers for Ashley, they just treat her symptoms.
In Orlando, Florida, she ran a 5K on a Thursday, a 10K on a Friday, a half marathon on a Saturday and a full marathon, 26.2 miles, on Sunday.
"On the last day, like, I felt absolutely great because I'm back to doing what I love. And I think also it was a good feeling because all of my training was turned out absolutely perfect. I can't even describe how it feels," she said.
That's 48.6 miles in four days for the 40-year-old long hauler.
A wife, a mother of two and a woman who still uses a device to help her with her breathing.
"Pro athletes have waited it out and they've gotten better. We've treated them very aggressively, but I think in the person who's got a regular day job and is so bad, very few people are going to recover to run a race like that," Lehman said.
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