[quote]Brojoseph wrote:
My college team had a girl who was diagnosed with brain cancer during track her freshman year. She was given a 50% chance of survival. Her surgery and chemo was successful and she was able to come back. Inspirational story. Ultimately though, she just went back to being part of the team.
So really the only upside to a coach is she could be used as a recruiting tool. But what kind of jerk coach would bring somebody on board for that? She should be treated like any other athlete.
[quote]let-her-run wrote:
[quote]lease wrote:
Brain cancer - no comparison. It's acute. While she's getting chemo she's not training or competing. She's trying to hang on. She'll get better or not.
MS isn't the same. She's not going to get better. She'll be training and competing while managing that awful disease.
I can see why coaches do not want to be part of that. They have reduced scholarships and may not want to commit to someone who will not greatly improve, and with the potential to get much worse. Yes its a great lesson in life, but its not a performance decision.
Now if its not a scholarship decision, and this girl just wants to run, then let her run. I see no reason for a coach to exclude a person with a consistency of performance, even through a chronic disease.