Amputee runs half of San Francisco marathon in crutches

At 15, Alex Parra received a diagnosis that would upend his life. After doctors detected bone cancer in his left leg, he made the decision to amputate the leg above the knee. Parra was told that he could get back to exercise with the right equipment.

But a prosthesis that would allow him to run would cost $35,000.

“I genuinely thought, like, ‘I’m never going to be able to run again,’” said Parra, now 22. “My family can’t afford that.”

Parra eventually purchased a running prosthesis with a grant from the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a nonprofit that supports disabled athletes. But the sticker shock stayed with him. It moved him to take on an outlandish challenge to raise money and awareness for the costs facing disabled athletes: to run the San Francisco Marathon without his prosthetic leg, using only his crutches.

Parra, a social media influencer, made it more than halfway through the challenging course Saturday, battling the city’s hills and gusts of wind on the Golden Gate Bridge. He stopped after 16 miles — but raised $2,500 for the foundation after documenting his preparation for the race on TikTok and Instagram.

“I wanted to do a marathon on crutches to kind of represent what I don’t have access to,” Parra said. “And to see what I can push myself to do.”

Parra was attending high school in Roseville, Calif., when a lump swelled up on his left knee in 2016. When the pain persisted for months, he had it inspected and received the life-changing diagnosis.

Parra said he was given the choice between a knee replacement and an amputation. He opted for the amputation after being told that a knee replacement might hinder his ability to exercise.

“That’s not the life that I wanted to live,” Parra said. “I wanted to do all these active things.”

Then he learned that the specialized prosthesis he’d need to run would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Parra said his family, already swamped with medical bills, had no shot of affording it. Parra’s medical insurance, which covered his wheelchair and standard walking prosthesis, wouldn’t approve it.

Countless amputees across the country face Parra’s dilemma, Bob Babbitt, co-founder of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, told The Post.

Standard prostheses for walking are heavier and can’t emulate the spring a leg provides while running, Babbitt said. In addition to prostheses made for running, the foundation also helps athletes purchase other equipment, such as specialized wheelchairs for basketball, rugby or pickleball.

Parra contacted the foundation and received his running prosthesis in 2017, which finally allowed him to reclaim his running hobby. As he continued through high school, he fought through a second bout of cancer in his lungs in 2018.

Parra completed treatment for lung cancer in 2019 and has been in remission since, he said. In 2021, he began posting videos to TikTok and Instagram about his cancer diagnoses and life as an amputee.

“I didn’t have someone that was always there to answer all of my questions or to keep my mind at ease with all of the unknowns or the stress of it all,” Parra said. “So I wanted to create videos for my 15-year-old self.”

This year, the idea to run the San Francisco Marathon on crutches came abruptly, Parra said. He began planning for the run in June, a month before the race. Parra only ended up doing seven days of training, he said.

“My parents’ immediate reaction was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re going to have to lose another leg after this,’” Parra said.

Parra shared clips of his hasty preparation on Instagram and TikTok. Each video started with Parra beaming with optimism, even as he described his ambitious goal.

Whos gonna carry the boats

On Saturday, Parra bandaged his hands and brought gloves with him to the race. Then he set off. He said he felt good for first five miles. Runners who recognized him from social media cheered him on as they passed. Then, Parra’s hands began to ache. He stopped at an aid station and covered his callused palms with gauze.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘This is just one day. It’s just one day of pain,’” Parra said.

As the race crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, gusts of wind blew Parra backward. As the course continued through the hills of Marin County, he faced steep climbs. There was no relief running downhill, when the whole weight of his body pressed on his crutches and hands. Still, Parra eked it out to the 16-mile marker, when he said his body gave out. It had taken him seven hours and organizers had already begun closing the course behind him.

At first, Parra was disappointed not to finish, but he was still thrilled to make it as far as he did without much preparation.

“I still accomplished something that I never thought I would be able to do,” Parra said.

Babbitt said Parra had achieved a victory just by crossing the starting line. He praised the influencer for sharing about his life as an amputee on social media and taking on challenges that could inspire other disabled athletes.

“You bring attention every time you do that,” Babbitt said.

Legislators may be taking notice as well. In 2022, lawmakers in Maine passed a bill that requires health insurance policies to cover prosthetics for children under 18 for recreational purposes, including running, biking and swimming, if those activities are deemed a medical need. Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois and Arkansas passed similar laws this year with varying levels of coverage for adults and children, according to the O&P Edge, an industry magazine for prosthetists.

Parra said the wave of bills was encouraging. And he’s looking ahead to the next marathon to continue raising awareness. He wants to train properly so that he can try again next year and maybe even qualify for an Ironman event — all still on crutches.

“I really want to do it again,” he said.