'The spirit and the desire': Aurora teem hit by car in 2021 now preparing to run marathon

After Cassidy Trem suffered knee and hip injuries when a car struck her during her freshman year at Aurora High School, she was unsure about running again.

"I didn't feel like my full strength was back and I was also just scared," she said. "I mean, you never know. Things can happen again and I just couldn't get it. Like, I couldn't stop reliving that moment. And I was just too scared to get back out and run."

But now, the 17-year-old high school senior is planning to take part in the 2023 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon on Oct. 15.

Cassidy also is one of five people receiving the Lashutka Spirit Award, given to participants who had to face down challenges or obstacles before competing.

"I mean, it was amazing just to have the spirit and the desire to still want to take part in something to better yourself physically," Race Director Darris Blackford said. "And really, in overcoming those types of physical challenges, "[Cassidy's] exactly the type of person that we love to honor with this award."

Learning to walk again

Cassidy said she started running cross country in seventh grade to help stay in shape for soccer — she plays as a part of the Cleveland Force Soccer Club — and has stuck with running, doing track and field in high school.

But in her freshman year, she got sidelined by a string of back luck. In December 2020, she was hospitalized for a couple of days with pancreatitis. The following February, she came down with COVID-19, one of two times she contracted it.

In March came the accident. While in the crosswalk near Aurora Farms Premium Outlets on South Chillicothe Road, a woman went through a red light while making a left turn and struck Trem.

"I broke my tibia plateau in my right knee and I also tore a part of my labrum in my hip of my right leg," she said.

What followed was months of recovery until she finally started feeling like her old self in October.

"For the first, like, couple months, I was in a cast," she said. "...And then after I got my cast off, my leg was, oh, skinny compared to my other leg, so I had to relearn how to walk and get my strength back through physical therapy, which was very challenging because I'm always used to having strong legs as a soccer player. And then, after physical therapy, it was more of just me having to build up the courage to start running again because I was just so terrified that something could happen again."

'She was going to get back to what she wanted to do'

Kara Trem, Cassidy's mother, said she believes the accident was the worst thing that had happened to her daughter because the aftermath was so drawn out compared to the illnesses.

But she believes that Cassidy had what it took all along to get through it.

"She was pretty resilient, is the best word — not really defeated as much as you would expect," she said. "You know, teenagers go through ebbs and flows, obviously, but she, I felt like she kept a pretty positive spirit that she was going to get back to what she wanted to do, her goals."

The Columbus event also includes a half marathon and Kara Trem said Cassidy got her feet wet by running in it last year, despite being sick at the time.

"After she was done, she was like, 'Well, I'm just glad I finished, but I want to run the full,'" her mother recalled. "That became, 'OK, I did this and I was sick and I'm gonna now do the full marathon.' She wanted to do a marathon before she was 18. So, not many kids set out to run 26.2 miles."

Aurora teacher Kory Rorabaugh, who coached Cassidy in track and field during her freshman year, expressed similar admiration.

"She is probably one of the most, and I say this in a great way, bullheaded, stubborn and tenacious athletes I've ever coached," said Rorabaugh. "Her will and wants and her desire to succeed is absolutely tremendous."

Rorabaugh, who was Cassidy's teacher in middle school health class, said the teen is also gifted academically.

"She is exceptionally smart in everything that she does," said Rorabaugh, who has retired as a coach, but continues teaching health and physical education. "I mean, she puts 100% in and she's also gifted. She's gifted in the classroom and she's a gifted athlete. She has this natural ability but natural ability only takes you so far. It's the ability to work hard and put in the time to be successful and Cassidy does that in and out of the classroom and in her athletics."

Older brother inspires Aurora athlete to overcome medical challenges

Cassidy credits her 19-year-old brother Max, a student athlete himself who had to deal with his own challenges, with helping her regain her full confidence.

"He also had some unfortunate health circumstances when he was in middle school and he actually just qualified for the Boston Marathon," she said. "So he's my biggest inspiration. And I honestly couldn't have done it if it wasn't for him helping me get through it."

Cassidy said the award came as a surprise when she found out in July that she would be a recipient.

"My boyfriend actually nominated me. I didn't know anything about it until I got an email," she said.

Blackford said the award is named after Greg Lashutka, who helped start the marathon in 1980 and later served as Columbus mayor. This year's marathon has about 4,000 registered runners while the half marathon, in its 17th year, has about 8,000.

"Doing training for a marathon or half marathon for anyone is a very, very challenging endeavor," said Blackford. "But then for someone like [Cassidy], it just goes to show what type of grit and determination somebody has to be able to overcome challenges and still want to do their best."

Kara Trem said Cassidy is considering colleges. She exploring playing soccer at the collegiate level and majoring in engineering, biochemistry or nursing.

"She's got a lot of aspirations to try to toe the student part with the athlete," she said. "So to be a true student athlete and it's pretty exciting. We'll see where she ends up."

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For now, Cassidy is training for the marathon, running on some favorite trails in the area. And she said she is proud and honored to be selected for the award.

"Honestly, I just love the accomplishment," she said. "It means a lot to me that I am part of such a great group of individuals who have just been through so much to be able to run and I hope that I can inspire others who are going through hard times."

Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Aurora teen hit by car in 2021 now preparing to run marathon