When John Blaine realized 11-year-old Matt Woodrum was struggling through his 400-meter race at school in central Ohio, the physical education teacher felt compelled to walk over and check on the boy.
“Matt, you’re not going to stop, are you?” he encouragingly asked Matt, who has cerebral palsy.
“No way,” said the panting, yet determined, fifth-grader.
Almost spontaneously, dozens of Matt’s classmates — many of whom had participated earlier in the school’s field day — converged alongside him, running and cheering on Matt as he completed his final lap under the hot sun.
The race on May 16, captured on video by Matt’s mother, is now capturing the attention of many on the Internet. A YouTube video posted this week by the boy’s uncle has received over 680,000 views.
Matt, who has spastic cerebral palsy that greatly affects his muscle movement, said he had a few moments where he struggled.
“I knew I would finish it,” said the soft-spoken Matt, who attends Colonial Hills Elementary School in suburban Worthington. “But there were a couple of parts of the race where I really felt like giving up.”
It was his fourth race of the day, and one he didn’t have to run. Only a handful of students opted to give it a try, said Anne Curran, Matt’s mother. She said her son doesn’t exclude himself from anything.
“He pushes through everything. He pushes through the pain, and he pushes through however long it may take to complete a task,” she said. “He wants to go big or go home.”
The sometimes shaky footage shows Matt beginning the race on a steady pace with his classmates, though he quickly lags. As several students pass him on their second lap around the grassy course, Blaine walks over to make sure Matt is OK.
“The kids will tell you that Matt never gives up on anything that he sets out to do,” said Blaine, who has been Matt’s teacher since kindergarten.
During his second lap and with Blaine by his side, Matt is suddenly joined by classmates encouraging him to keep going.
Matt said he was surprised by his classmates’ kindness.”It was really cool,” he said.
As Matt reaches the finish line, the video shows the dozens of students bursting into applause and giving him a round of high-fives.
Blaine said no one knew a video camera was recording the race that day. “Matt was a huge part of that race, his classmates were a huge part of that race. It was a magic moment.”
