Asia Ford decided to kickstart her weight loss journey after her husband lost a limb to diabetes, according to People.
Ford beat “the woman who thought she couldn’t” by successfully finishing a 10km race at the Rodes City Run in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the U.K’s The Telegraph.
Ford, who was her heaviest at 474 pounds, reportedly decided to change her diet, join an exercise boot camp with friends and start training for the Rodes City Run when she began worrying what her kids would do if her health had started to fail.
“That is when I woke up and I couldn’t allow them to be on this earth without my help and the only way I would be able to help them is if I helped myself first,” explained Ford.
Ford, who was 25 pounds lighter by the time of the race, reportedly successfully finished four of the six miles when she started to have trouble breathing. That’s when a car pulled up alongside her.
“I’m not going to let her quit, so I got out and she immediately grabbed my hand,” stated Lt. Aubrey Gregory, who helped Ford to the finish line.
Ford knew early on that she would be finishing the race no matter what.
“He asked me if I wanted to stop and I was like, ‘No,’ we have two more miles to go,” stated Ford.
Ford crossed the finish line with her 12-year-old son and Lt. Gregory.
“Your heart starts to fill up, you get those goose bumps and tingles all over your body,” stated Lt. Gregory.
He continued, “When I watched her approach and I started to hear people scream and I let her go right there before the end and to see her raise her hands, there aren’t words to express the way I felt seeing her be successful.”
