Teen completes KDF miniMarathon 5 months after becoming paralyzed
By Jennifer Osting
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — Thousands of runners took over the streets of Louisville Saturday morning for the Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and Marathon, but one of those runners just learned how to walk all over again.
Wyatt Anderson was paralyzed from the neck down in November 2025 after he fell head first into a wall while he was playing basketball with his friends.
Wyatt was left with a cervical spinal cord injury and went through weeks of physical therapy.
At first, he couldn’t lift a finger, let alone walk, but after spending a month at the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute and several months more recovering at home, he was able to lace up his shoes and take part in the big run Saturday morning.
WLKY spoke to Wyatt before the race, and he said the adversity was his biggest inspiration.
“I was telling them I want to try and run a marathon within a year of my injury happening. They would just tell me ‘A minor setback for a major comeback,’ so I tried to listen to that every day,” Wyatt said.
His goal going into the race was to finish it in under 2 hours, and he managed to pull it off alongside his doctor, who ran the race with him.
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