TCS NYC Marathon runner hopes to inspire others after 3 skull surgeries
NEW YORK (WABC) -- One man running the TCS New York City Marathon this weekend is sure to inspire anyone to get up and run -- and keep pushing until the end.
Ido Simyoni was diagnosed with a rare type of bone tumor at the age of 14. It kept growing in the same part of his forehead, and it was supposed to stop when he stopped growing.
"Fast forward to when I was 26. I'm not supposed to grow anymore," Simyoni said. "I'm not a teenager anymore. Unfortunately, it grew back again."
And that wasn't the last time. Simyoni faced complications that led to another more major surgery last year, which he went into not knowing how he would feel when he woke up.
"They kind of like open it from ear to ear, opening all of it, and who knows what's going to happen? Am I going to wake up? How am I going to wake up?" he said. "From a previous surgery when I was 17, I woke up with nerve damage. I can basically lift my left hand because my nerves are damaged here."
Simyoni was then put on a road to recovery that required not one, but two surgeries, to reconstruct part of his forehead with a metal plate to ensure this never happens again. And when he woke up from his surgery, he woke up with a mission.
"I said to myself, next year I'm going to run all six in one year and I want to finish it in the TCS New York City Marathon, which is my city," Simyoni said.
He says the last year was one of the hardest ever, only in part because of the surgeries. But the emotions he will feel crossing the finish line will make it all worth it.
"While the body was suffering, the body was going through all of it. I kept my soul and in my spirit, high and positive as much as possible," he said. "It will be that stamp you chose well, you chose right."
And his biggest hope is to inspire others along the way.
"When you believe in yourself and when you believe that you have that power, have that energy, have that thing in you, that driving you, that can help you get out of it," he said. "You'll find it and you will. And here I am."
The 2024 TCS New York City Marathon takes place Sunday, November 3, drawing more than 50,000 runners and will be televised in the New York area live on WABC-TV Channel 7 beginning with pre-race coverage at 7:00 a.m.
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