amanda_ferrin

Hope. Hope that life is always worth fighting for. Hope that broken things are not beyond repair. Hope that there is still joy to be found in the middle of pain. Hope that the goodness of people will always surprise and inspire you. Hope that impossible things really do become real. Every start line reminds me I’m still here. Every finish line reminds me it’s all for something so much bigger than I ever imagined. And every person standing along the course… The friends who have become family… The run club that chooses to “just show up” for each other… Reminds me the world is still full of good people. Racing may not change your life. But hope will. What gives YOU hope? Thank you, @bronxburnersrc and @pursuitofperformance__ … I’ll never forget this moment 🤍 ————- video from @tia_samuda #rbcbrooklynhalf #runner #marathon #nyrr #rundisney

Be courageous, believe in miracles. Oh, and don’t forget to dance! #berlinmarathon

I’m Amanda, and I call myself the Walking Miracle. Five years ago, I was told I wouldn’t live to see my next birthday. Since then, I’ve survived organ failure, an incurable bone infection, and broken more than 30 bones. Doctors said I would never walk again. But today, I walk marathons around the world to inspire hope and prove that miracles are real. This fall, I’m racing 180 miles across multiple events in the U.S. and abroad. Every step is painful—but that also makes every mile a gift. The 180 Mile Miracle is about showing what’s possible when life tells you it’s over: turning setbacks into a 180-degree turnaround of hope, grit, and joy. Through my fiscal sponsorship with DonorFund (a 501c3 nonprofit), I’m raising $18,000 to support: • Medical Care & the Racing Mission Living with terminal scleroderma means ongoing and extremely expensive life-saving surgeries, transfusions, and specialized treatments. Donations over the past year have provided 2 oral and sinus surgeries that are why I’m still here today. Racing also comes with travel, stickers, and entry costs that are all part of this mission of sharing miracles. • Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA) An incredible nonprofit that gives people with disabilities the chance to experience sports and community. I am a disabled athlete that has been given the opportunity to participate in races I never dreamed possible because of GLASA. By supporting the 180 Mile Miracle, you’re fueling both my fight for life and the larger mission to inspire others to keep moving toward their own finish lines—no matter the obstacles. Would you consider sponsoring a certain number of miles, like $26.20 for a 26.2 Mile Marathon!? 🙏 Will you join me in proving that impossible stories can still have finish lines? Together, we can turn 180 miles into a miracle. (Link to give in Profile— this platform takes no fees, and a tax deductible receipt will be provided with your contribution!) #rundisney #newbalance #scleroderma #marathon #abbottworldmarathonmajors #berlinmarathon #chicagomarathon #honolulumarathon #disneylife

I’m not going to bury the lead. Nothing in the last 2 months has gone according to plan. And yet… it worked. On February 5th, I had surgery and began a treatment protocol my specialists believed was my best hope. In true Amanda fashion, I called it my “miracle plan.” In the hours before surgery, my community surrounded me and helped carry the weight of the financial burden that comes with continuing to fight for your life. I spent several days in the hospital, then a couple weeks in California beginning IV antibiotics and continuing along the plan. Then March came. A rollover car accident.
Hospitalizations.
Procedures.
Insurance issues.
Race withdrawals.
Shoulder surgery. I’ve only slept in my own bed 5 nights in the last 2 months. Despite all that I have walked through in the past few years, this has probably been one of the darkest seasons of my life. Continuing to fight felt impossible. There were some bright spots, a couple races, and I really have felt encouraged and supported even when it felt easy to believe the whole world was against me. A couple weeks ago, I flew back to California for more procedures, scans and post-op. And on Tuesday, at my final appointment before heading to the airport, I received the results I thought I could only have dreamed. The kind of report that I’ve longed to hear since I had my first huge surgery battling this infection almost 2 years ago. The results are everything the doctors hoped for, and my body responded better than they thought possible. This is the kind of thing you pray and pray and pray for… but when the news comes you realize you never actually believed it could happen. I am processing and trying to figure out how to best share more. So for now, I’m shouting it from the roof tops. THE IMPOSSIBLE IS POSSIBLE. To everyone who has prayed for me, encouraged me, supported me… thank you. YOU are a part of my miracle story.

I do not have a race day fit to post for today’s London Marathon. But yesterday, my sweet friend Alison sent me a picture of hers. We planned to cross the finish line at Buckingham Palace together this year. Alison’s first World Major Race. I remember when she first told me she wanted to run London and how my journey and chase for 6 Stars had inspired her to try for international races and adventures. Now she’s registered for multiple Majors, raising thousands of dollars for charities in the process. She’s MY inspiration. We met at Epcot just last year, the night before a RunDisney race. I never expected a Facebook Marketplace shoe sale to turn into one of my closest racing friendships. I held out hope until the very last minute that I’d be in one of my favorite cities, racing the best Marathon in the world. But I also really wanted to be there to see Hamilton with my friend, and to dance the inaugural Night Glow 5k together. Today Alison will race without me… but she wanted me to know I’m with her, and my miracle stickers will still be a part of the best race on earth. I’ve grieved a lot of missed races and unrealized finish lines these last couple months. What I’ve been surprised by over and over again is how much the relationships I’ve built the last year and a half of racing have carried me when this marathon health battle has felt to long and hard to win. Alison’s encouraging texts haven’t stopped Neither have the prayers from so many of you. Today I looked in the mirror at the shoulder that’s held me back for weeks. My reflection is different… the amount of bone taken out will leave me forever changed. This season broke me physically, but it also nearly destroyed me in ways no one can see as well. But it has showed me something I haven’t lost. Something far more valuable than medals and miles. People. You are the miracles in my story. And you’ve been the reason I’ve kept fighting. We get the opportunity to borrow belief from each other… until we find a way to the finish line we thought we’d never reach. There will be other races. But this is the gift. People are the gold. Go Alison, go get your star ⭐️ I’m cheering you on. 🏁

I knew there was nowhere else I would want to be than a runDisney race weekend. And I also knew I didn’t think I’d be able to maintain pace to complete the whole 10k today. I love to walk. And in my opinion, there’s nowhere more perfect to walk than Disney. Today I raced through the SpringtimeSurprise 10k. I walked. And I also rolled. I decided to still Dead Last Start, along with the rest of my Villain Family on foot. After the first turn I got in a borrowed wheelchair and we were off. We laughed. I cried as Kaitlyn flew down the side roads and the cold wind whipped my face. Got lots of character photos. Hopped out of the chair to walk the Boardwalk. Got passed by the balloon ladies as we squeezed hands and shared knowing smiles. Ditched the chair at mile 6.15 and picked up Carissa. Together, we crossed the finish line arm in arm. It wasn’t perfect. But it was beautiful. I think the 10K might still be the best race. ———————————————————- I want to acknowledge that I’m sensitive to the reality that there are athletes who do not have the ability to choose when they will and won’t use a chair. My hope with sharing posts like this is never to make the device, illness, or injury the focus… but rather the reminder that life still holds so many beautiful opportunities to dance through. No matter the struggle. Keep going. #rundisney

and I’m just here, racing a 5k around Epcot, stopping for character photos and coffee. As we drove into the parking lot of the race today, I had tears in my eyes… truly overwhelmed that I was getting to live a moment that I never would have dreamed possible last Friday as we drove to the hospital at UCLA. I’ve spent weeks not just grieving illness, injuries and race disappointments… but negativity and lies spread across the internet and social media. But THIS is the truth: I know that life is too short to live defined by other people’s opinions. and today WAS a miracle. ————————————————————- Now, go live YOUR story. I hope you dance. #rundisney #runyourrace #disney

On Tuesday, I arrived back in Florida. What I have described as the worst month of my life continued last week. After fighting for 13 days with insurance authorization, I arrived in pre-op with a body too fragile to go under anesthesia. My surgical path moving forward has a date, but not a definite plan. I spent four days admitted to the hospital, but never made it out of makeshift half walls and hallways into an actual room. A couple nights, I slept only minutes. My mom napped in the rental car. We waited for specialists who never rounded. And somehow, we still walked in circles 15,000 steps a day. The medical system is so broken. I think it is safe to say it failed me this time around. “Amanda, your spring race calendar has been decimated, and you have a bone that might push outside your body at any moment. What are you going to do now?” I’m going to Disney World. Obviously. This weekend is runDisney Springtime Surprise. The final races of the season. Crossing these 3 finish lines will allow me to complete a perfect season. Every single medal earned on both coasts. All 27. I had already resigned that it wouldn’t be possible. If surgery had been last Friday, I wouldn’t have been here today. I’ll be in an air cast and a bandaged leg… not exerting too much energy on my weakened heart, body and broken bones. Party Pace Power Walking a 5k, and for the first time I’ll be pushed in a wheelchair for most of the other two distances. But we are going to celebrate! My people have rallied, found a chair and offered to push. A best friend flew down from Indiana to walk the 5k. We already listened to Yeehaw Bob play show tunes and we’re going to try and redeem a bit of the birthday I spent in the hospital. I’ll leave on Medal Monday and step right back into the medical madness. I haven’t been to Disney since the night I drove home and my car rolled and my life crashed. There is a lot of joy to reclaim this weekend. A race weekend feels like exactly the way to do it. Sequins on. Stickers in hand. Ready to live another miracle. Nothing is impossible. #rundisney #springtimesurprise #marathon #medical

If you believe miracles are real, you’re also going to have to accept that your heart might be broken. At this time yesterday, I ate my final bite of cereal and swallowed the last coffee I could enjoy with soy milk and sweetener. Surgery was planned for early afternoon, so nothing to eat or drink after 3am. Doctor’s orders. I hoped to fall back asleep. Instead, I stumbled onto an interview with @lindseyvonn on the @todayshow . It was part of a series called “Glass Half Full.” The first question they asked her was whether, given the last couple months of her life, she would consider herself a glass half full type of person. Her response came with a laugh. “Does anyone actually say they consider themselves glass half empty?” @craigmelvinnbc told her many people actually do. She looked genuinely surprised before answering, very emphatically, “Glass half full. Always have been. Always will be.” I watched the rest of the interview captivated. Weeping. Relating. Finding a new inspiration. I am not, and never will be, the greatest of all time in a sport. I will never know the loss of an Olympic dream. But I have spent the last month grieving the compounding losses of dream Marathon races. Experiencing pain, hospitalizations, injuries and illness. Feeling the darkness of having not just moments stolen, but movement and independence taken in an instant. And yet… I also understand the importance of perspective. The determination to see my body heal. And the power of hyperbaric oxygen therapy… which Vonn said she does two hours every day. I came to California for appointments with my oral surgeon and infection specialists. But also desperate to find someone at UCLA willing to help me with my collarbone and shoulder. For nearly two weeks I fought for that help. Yesterday at 1pm I thought the battle would finally be over. Early in the morning, after watching that interview, I wrote a post I planned to share before surgery. In it I wrote: **continued below** ⬇️ ⬇️

As someone who has spent the last year and a half of my life lining up at start lines around the world, I have heard an admonition countless times. Runners, coaches and announcers alike repeat it. I have even used it myself in a post or two. “The opportunity to move your body in this way, to race, to be part of this sport, is a gift. There will come a day when you will not be able to… but today is not that day.” Despite everything in my heart and will to make today happen, including coming very close to accepting a friend’s offer to fly down to Florida from Indiana and drive me up to NYC, I am in a hospital bed rather than crossing the Central Park finish line of my most favorite race I have ever run. For me… there has indeed come a day. And today IS that day. Last year on March 16, 2025 (my birthday) I unknowingly kicked off what would become a year of dreams come true. I renewed my 10 years expired passport & earned my first star, dancing down the streets of London because @markjanik and @sports_tours_international_usa made my dream come true. In May, I flew to Sweden for the @stockholm_42195 . I spent a few weeks diagnosing seven fractures in my foot and heel, as well as a multi-step, life saving jaw surgery. Then I hopped on a plane to the Netherlands to do the @de4daagse , a four day, 100 mile march that became my new favorite days ever. And I spent the fall fulfilling my 180 Mile Mission and the race calendar of my dreams. I raced over 220 miles in Berlin, Chicago, California, Arizona, Orlando & Hawaii. And then, I earned my fourth star at the big one, the marathon of my heart, when @pursuitofperformance__ and @newbalance made the greatest race dream of all a reality & I got to party through 26.1 miles for the @nyrr New York City Marathon. I completed the storied @rundisney Dopey Challenge at Disney World in January & was on track to achieve a perfect Disney race season across both @disneyland & @waltdisneyworld . At the beginning of February, the race community I have grown to love and hope to inspire and countless friends sowed back into me & paid for my life saving treatment protocol in 24 hours. **continued below ⬇️⬇️** #rundisney #teamabbott

I threw up 11 times in the corrals before the start of the 10K last weekend. Wisdom probably would have said I should scratch the race and never even cross the start line. When I waved @carissa_gway , she laughed into the mic, “I’m a little worried… I see Amanda carrying a blue bag.” My friends gave her a thumbs up. And we were off. My friends. Friends who stayed with me mile after mile as I hopped off the course searching for trash cans or quiet corners away from the crowd. Friends who waved off medical when they tried to pull me from the race. Friends who insisted I wasn’t ruining their day and kept recording silly videos and cheering at mile markers… no matter how absurd the experience became. Friends who crossed the finish line with me while I held up my emesis bag and both hands in victory. Only a few were physically beside me that morning. But they were representing many of you, and hundreds more, who helped get me there. Just weeks ago I had major surgery. Diseased bone was removed, infection debrided, and antibiotic-loaded bone cement implanted. Since then I’ve gone through IV therapy and now give myself daily intermuscular injections… everything possible to save my life and slow the disease that keeps throwing new curveballs. A month ago I danced through confetti at the Disneyland Half Marathon finish line, not knowing if it would be my last. It wasn’t. Because of my friends. Racing has given me more than I ever imagined when I crossed my first finish line just over a year ago. I’ve traveled the world, finished nine marathons, and survived more broken bones than I can count. But the greatest gift has been this: Feeling that the life I’m fighting so hard for still has purpose. After Disneyland, I entered surgery week by myself. But I quickly realized that didn’t mean I was alone. Faced with an impossible medical bill and only hours to find a miracle, my friends rallied. In the middle of the night before surgery, hundreds of people gave. A matching gift was met, and then exceeded. I went into the operating room knowing my treatment was covered, but even more than that… **continued in comment below.. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ #rundisney #disneyworld

Yesterday was World Rare Disease Day. Today I had the honor of taking a moment to push my very rare bestie through Magic Kingdom toward the castle. The world is quick to define us by a diagnosis. To label us by our limitations. To judge how sick we look… or decide how we should live while we fight to survive. But spend even a moment with us, and you might notice something even more rare: Unapologetic joy in the midst of every challenge. Adri and I finished 22.4 magical miles this weekend. And I don’t think there were two people on that course who smiled bigger. We are not our disease. We are miracles. ✨ #raredisease #rundisney #magickingdom #disney #marathon