Monday, Jun. 15, 2009

Collinsville girl brings home Special Olympics gold, silver for her ailing father

COLLINSVILLE -- Karrie Brown high-fived the kids of the YMCA day camp, her face shining with delight as they applauded her -- and her gold and silver medals.

Karrie, 13, just competed in her first Special Olympics. She had won the gold medal at the regional competition for the 50-meter dash and softball throw, and was the sole student from Collinsville Unit 10 schools to attend the state competition this weekend.

She brought home two medals. And she did it, in part, for her father.

It's a tough time for Karrie. Her father, Richard Brown, is currently in hospice. Her mother, Sue Brown, said they weren't sure Richard would make it through the weekend while Karrie competed.

"But he wanted her to go; we're doing this for Dad," Sue said.

Karrie has Down syndrome and mild autism. Before she started the inclusive programs at the Collinsville-Maryville-Troy YMCA, Sue said she would have difficulty even entering a gymnasium full of loud, clapping children due to the sensory overload.

"Look at her now," Sue said, watching her daughter raise her thumbs high in joy as her camp friends cheered her.

At first, Sue said, she didn't really "buy into" the Special Olympics because she believes in the inclusive programs that put special-needs children with typically-developing children. Those programs have helped Karrie develop friendships and break down the stigmas surrounding children with mental and physical disabilities, she said. She wanted Karrie in the "real world" because it is the world in which she will have to function, she said.

"I took her to the district games because she wanted to go, but when I saw the look on her face when they put the medal around her neck, I started to cry," Sue said. "She sometimes realizes (at school) that other kids let her win, but she won these fair and square. Her self-esteem has just blossomed with it."

So Sue took Karrie to the state games, and tried to prepare herself and Karrie for a participant's ribbon -- Karrie was up against older kids, and it's been rough to prepare while dealing with Karrie's father's illness.

But Karrie blew them all away.

"I was fast," Karrie said, holding up her gold medal for the 50-meter dash with a smile. She also threw the ball pretty hard, she said, with her silver medal for the softball throw.

So when Karrie returned to day camp on Monday, the campers gathered to cheer her and present a "Congratulations Karrie" sign they had made, along with a framed certificate from YMCA of Southwest Illinois. This seemed to make Karrie almost as happy as the medals, carrying it throughout the gym to show her fellow campers.

And when Sue called the hospice from the games in Bloomington, the attendants told her Richard Brown, who isn't capable of speech at this point, smiled at the news of his daughter's accomplishment.

Sue began to sniffle again as she watched Karrie's obvious joy at the YMCA ceremony.

"When Karrie was born, they told me never to expect anything of her, and she has brought me more joy than I ever imagined," Sue said. "There's nothing artificial about her joy, it just bubbles over."