Born to Run

By Ranjit Steiner

Twitter: DrFunkenSteiner

Website: RanjitSteiner.com



I started running track in 7th grade. I chased down one of the fastest players on the other team and my football coach made me go out for a local track team. Since then, I have been in love with sprinting.

In 2006, during my sophomore year of high school I tore my ACL while playing football in the fall but I was determined to heal and finish my rehab in time for track season. Unfortunately, it would take much longer than that. When I went to the first track practice of the season, my coach kicked me out and told me not to come back until I stopped limping. Something was not right. I went to see my orthopedic surgeon and he noticed a swelling in my leg. He immediately ordered an X-ray and the results were overwhelming for a 15-year-old, there was a big chunk of femur that was carved out by a tumor in my leg. I was diagnosed with bone cancer.

After that diagnosis, a couple months went by before I received news that would change my mindset forever; I was told that I would never run again. That news was more painful to hear than the diagnosis. I had been a multi-sport athlete my whole life and I could not imagine a life without playing football, sprinting on the track during meets, or just running around with my friends. The next four years were harder.

I had to endure eight surgeries, multiple infections, and the emotional hardship it brought my family and me before finally deciding to amputate my leg in 2010. The decision did not come lightly. I had fought through severe depression on a daily basis and even became addicted to my medication which allowed me to get through each pain-filled day. It was clear that I could not continue to live like that, so at 19-years-old, I made the decision.