[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            A VALIANT EFFORT

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, yesterday, Jean Driscoll of 
Champaign, IL, won her fifth consecutive Boston Marathon at 1:34:21. It 
was the fastest time ever in the women's wheelchair division.
  Driscoll, 27, has managed to set a new world record each time she has 
raced in Boston. She also is the owner of the current national 10-
kilometer championship, holding the world's best women's time--23:46.
  Driscoll, who was disabled at birth because of spina bifida--open 
spine--uses a wheelchair to provide the mobility that her legs cannot. 
Spina bifida robbed her of a normal childhood and a chance to dream the 
dreams of other girls growing up in the Midwest. Her parents were told 
she would be mentally retarded and have no future. Thank goodness Jean 
and her parents knew differently.
  In 1992, when wheelchair racing was an exhibition sport at the 
Olympics in Barcelona, she won the silver medal for 800 meters.
  I am so encouraged by Jean's efforts. She grew up in Milwaukee. Until 
her freshman year in high school, she could get around using braces and 
a walker. Then a bike accident left her in a body cast for a year.
  With atrophied muscles, plus hip and knee problems, she had to deal 
with returning to school in a wheelchair--in addition to the normal 
trauma of being 15. Besides discouragement, Driscoll had to overcome 
the thoughtlessness of her peers. But she kept her chin up.
  Her breakthrough was enrollment at the University of Illinois, where 
she was a dual-sport athlete in racing and wheelchair basketball.
  She earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication and a master's 
in rehabilitation administration. She has remained in Champaign, where 
she helps coach two dozen wheelchair racers.
  I am proud of this young woman, and on behalf of all Illinoisans, 
congratulations on a job well done.

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