In October 2011, Mike Hart won the Mid-Atlantic Hopper competition’s masters division at CrossFit BWI in Maryland. A year later, he’s using a walker and has difficulty speaking because of an unidentified neuro-degenerative disease.
“The doctors haven’t been able to identify what it is,” explains his brother, Joe. “He’s going through treatment after treatment after treatment.”
So at Hart’s box, CrossFit Oldtown in Alexandria, Va., members created Fight For Mike, a benefit workout that was held Oct. 14.
“What we’re doing is we’re raising money to help Mike deal with any financial issues that come up so it’s not a concern for him—he just works on getting better,” his brother says.
Hart’s father, Bud, says his son’s spirit and hope always have been good.
“But to watch him go from a CrossFit champion to a guy who can’t run, he can’t jump, he can’t talk the way he wants to talk,” he says, “it’s a real bear .”
Video by Mike Koslap.
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Additional reading: “I WOD for Ted Hoyt” by Jack Goodson, published Nov. 4, 2011.