Hero of the Week 5

Welcome back viewers!

This week's hero is...

Betty Robinson!

Betty Robinson was an olympic athlete who won multiple medals at the games. In the 1928 Summer Olympics at Amsterdam, she won a gold medal in the 100 meters and a silver in the women's 4x100 relay. She did this when she was only 16 years old. Despite this incredible achievement, Robinson is probably best know for a horrific incident that nearly took her life and her incredible road to recovery.

By the year 1931, Robinson was training hard for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. However, on June 28 one of her cousins invited her to take a ride in a biplane, which she accepted. For about an hour Robinson and her cousin (named Wilson Palmer) enjoyed their flying trip. But when the plane reached an altitude of 400 feet, its motor stalled. As a result it plunged in an uncontrollable nosedive and crashed. Both Robinson and her cousin suffered severe injuries. Robinson suffered a broken left arm, an eight-inch gash across her head, a concussion, and a shattered left leg. When she and her cousin were found the former was initially thought to be dead and taken to a morgue. That is, until the undertaker noticed slight movement and immediately rushed her to the hospital where doctors struggled to save her life.

For the next eleven weeks Betty Robinson drifted in and out of consciousness. After that she was confined to a wheel chair. As a result of her terrible injuries, she missed the summer olympics in 1932. Despite this, Robinson was determined to walk and eventually run again. Once she was discharged from the hospital, she immediately began a long road to recovery. Although she continued to suffer physical pain in her legs from her injuries, Robinson was able to make the 1936 Olympic team for the Women's Relay. In Berlin, Robinson ran the third leg of the relay before passing the baton to her teammate (her fellow runners were: Helen Stephens, Annette Rogers, and Harriet Bland). Although the German team was the favored to win the gold, their fourth runner dropped the baton. As a result the American team (Robinson included) won the gold medal.

Betty Robinson's story is one that draws much inspiration. She was a professional athlete who suffered terrible injuries from a freak accident. And yet through determination and dedication, she was able to comeback and return to doing what she loved. Betty Robinson is without a doubt, one of the most remarkable athletes in the history of the Olympics.

http://www.teamusa.org/News/2015/April/28/Betty-Robinson-The-Gold-Medalist-Who-Came-Back-From-the-Dead