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St. Peters man recalls his moments in Olympic spotlight

"It was extremely interesting and humbling to be involved in something so wonderful"

ST. PETERS, Mo. — “I'm sure they gave us these trinkets also,” said John Walsh, gesturing to a series of pins, a cap, and a bottle of Coca Cola on the dining table of his St. Peters, Mo. home.

They’re pieces of history left very much in the past, or at least tucked away in storage.

“I never washed it, and I put it away forever,” he said. He shrugs at any suggestion of their importance or significance.

“Well, I doubt if a museum wants John Walsh's memorabilia,” he laughs.

It’s memorabilia from his leg of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay. He doesn’t often think of that day—but when he does, he lights up.

“It was extremely interesting and humbling to be involved in something so wonderful,” he said. He has particularly vivid memories of watching speed skater Bonnie Blair carry the torch—one of the most decorated athletes in United States history.

But his journey that day started decades earlier, with another fire, when Walsh survived a car crash that left him with severe burns on his face and body.

“I'm used to the entire world staring at me,” he said. “That's meaningless to me. It's been like that for 40 years.”

John underwent more than a dozen surgeries to restore his appearance, vision, and other functions.

“Complete reconstruction of my entire face, basically,” he said.

“I think it was just basically looking for some good person that would be well deserving Olympic Spirit,” recalls Kim Walsh, John’s wife of the advertisement in the newspaper calling for people who apply to be a torchbearer in St. Louis. “And that's what my husband was.”

She's lost track of her copy of the essay she wrote, but she used her words to describe a man who’s “never had a bad day,” treats everyone with kindness, loves playing soccer with kids in the neighborhood and volunteers at Mercy Hospital with other burn victims, despite suffering physical and emotional trauma from the accident still.

“People just love him,” she said.

The International Olympic Committee also says something worth celebrating in John's story: they sent him a letter inviting him to participate in the run. 

"We get this thing in the mail that we almost threw away," remembers Kim. "And there was the letter accepting him, saying we have read your letter and we would proud to have Mr. Walsh run the Olympic torch. And we were both shaken. I said, 'oh, my God, look at this.'"

Much like the tokens from the International Olympic Committee, John sees very little glory in his fight to survive.

“It was either do you want to live or they don't want to live. This is the price that you have to pay to live.”

He will admit he is proof that it is possible to overcome devastating situations like his.

“All things are possible.”

And those who love him see glory in how he lives his life in the years since the accident, and since his glimmering moment on the Olympic Torch run.

“I feel like he carries his torch daily,” said Kim.

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