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The people who know Katie Jasmon say that she lives
every hour of her life to accomplish something.
As a student at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, she
was a four-time state qualifier in swimming, a two-time state qualifier in
track, and a state-qualifier in cross-country. In 2006 Jasmon received a scholarship to Division I
school Ball State University, where she jumpstarted her college swimming
career by placing in the top 16 in the Mid-American Conference
Championships. After her freshman year, Jasmon came home to
Springfield for summer break and immediately picked up training for her
second Iron Abe triathlon. She was running and swimming every day, but then
one morning she woke up and couldn’t open her eye. At first she
chalked it up to a case of pinkeye, but when it didn’t go away she
was admitted to the hospital. On June 21, 2007, Jasmon was told by doctors that she
had myasthenia gravis — a rare, incurable autoimmune disease in which
communication between nerve and muscle is impaired, causing muscle
weakness. “It was kind of ironic,” Jasmon says,
“because everyone always told me that I was too hard on my body and
that I needed to take a rest. Now I’m forced to know my
limits.”
But if it’s even possible, says Mike Schwartz,
her former swim coach, Jasmon is more of an inspiration now than ever
before. After a workout, Jasmon requires assistance to get out
of the pool and must ice down her entire body to fight severe muscle
fatigue. She has trouble walking, talking, swallowing, and opening her
eyes. It takes her hours, or even days, to recuperate.
Even so, Jasmon went back to Ball State last fall and
continued to compete, usually in relays but sometimes in individual events.
She took time off for a surgery to remove her thymus gland in December but
was back in competition by March. This summer she’s meeting Schwartz
every morning at Eisenhower Pool or FitClub, where she swims 2,000 yards to
stay strong for next season. “She’s fighting,” Schwartz says.
“What she’s trying to do is turn a negative into a positive.
She said to me: ‘There must be a reason that I was given this. I
think it’s to be out there, to inspire people.’ She’s
going to try to do it all, even with this disease.”
As if getting up every day and defying the odds
weren’t enough, Jasmon decided that she needed to do more. She says
she knew that she couldn’t find the cure but decided to raise money
for research so someone else could. Jasmon organized “Attacking MG,” a
swim/walk/run to benefit the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of Illinois. On
June 14, participants will walk or run around the SHG track for an hour
beginning at 9 a.m. or swim the 200-, 500-, or 1,650-meter freestyle at
Eisenhower Pool beginning at noon. Singles pay $30, families $100; both
have the option of getting extra pledges for track or pool laps.
Schwartz and several of Jasmon’s Ball State
teammates have signed up to swim, and Jasmon says she probably won’t
be able to stop herself from jumping in. “I was given this disease, and I realize I have
it,” Jasmon says, “but at the same time, if it’s going to
be in my life, it’s going to be on my time.”
Contact Amanda Robert at arobert@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 4, 2008.
