Because she’s 64 years old.
Because she tried four times previously and failed.
Because she was gracious in defeat, expressed her sadness, cried in front of the press, always thanked her team.
Because it’s 110 miles from Cuba to the Florida Keys.
Because she was in the ocean 53 hours, through daylight and darkness. Because her only rests came while treading water, being passed food she ate on her back, liquids she sipped through a straw.
Because she swam without a shark cage. Because, at times, she wore a mask and suit to protect her from the jellyfish stings that ended previous attempts. Because the mask made her breathing difficult, the suit slowed her progress.
Because you’d have to be a little bit crazy to attempt such a feat.
Because the human body is not meant to be submerged in salt water that long.
Because, near the end, she vomited constantly, her lips were swollen, her shoulders ached, her face and back badly sunburned.
Because she was helped by a team, kayakers using electrical currents to ward off sharks, divers who swam ahead to remove box jellyfish, physicians and oceanographers and boat pilots and friends.
Because when she reached the Florida Keys, fans swarmed the beach screaming her name, blowing air horns, clapping, cheering, waded into the water to greet her.
“I thought it wasn’t humanly possible or she would have done it,” her dear friend Bonnie Stoll told The New York Times. “I was glad to be wrong.”
Because we should all have friends like that.
Because even though our culture dismisses women, female athletes, lesbians, older people, she continued to believe, deep in her bones, she could succeed.
Because she shared that belief with each of us who wanted to share it. Because she used her passion to ignite our own.
Planet of the Blind 