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BY AL HAMNIK
ahamnik@nwitimes.com
219.933.4154 | Sunday, October 09, 2005 | (No comments posted.)
When the pain, the exhaustion, the frenzied pace of training for today's Chicago Marathon reached a point where Jill Schleuter-Kim wanted to scream, all she had to do was glance into the loving eyes of 3-year-old daughter Willa.
And quickly, like an ocean breeze, the mother of three became energized.
Running 26.2 miles was a walk across the street compared to what little Willa has had to endure.
She was born with hemimegaloencephaly, a condition in which the whole right side of the brain is malformed.
"It was causing her to have seizures all the time," said Jill, a 1986 Highland grad. "We had to put her on all different kinds of medications to try to control them. For the first nine months of her life, she was either having seizures or she was sleeping from all the drugs she was on."
Surgeons removed the right side of Willa's brain, stopping the seizures, but she contacted bacterial meningitis. That occurred a month before the 2004 Chicago Marathon, which put an abrupt end to Jill's training.
"She was in the hospital for three weeks and she was very sick," said Jill. "We almost lost her."
Occasionally, Schleuter-Kim would go on a short run, more often for therapeutic reasons than to prepare for Chicago. Willa returned home the week of the marathon, but Jill held off competing until the morning of.
"I had to wait and see how (Willa) was doing," she said.
Later that morning, husband Art brought Willa, Zoe, 4, and Hayley, 6, up to the lakefront to watch Mom make her marathon debut in an impressive 3 hours, 54 minutes.
A week later, it was back to the hospital. Willa had developed an infection. Twice, fluid was drained from the brain. The recovery was lengthy. It took a year to gain back her weight. She had another surgery, this time to insert a feeding tube in her stomach.
The seizures returned this month, sending Willa back to the hospital for more tests.
"It was not nearly as bad as before," said Jill. "We're trying some different medications now, hoping that gets things under control."
Willa presently is very alert, very curious. She can sit up straight and is learning how to stand.
"She doesn't talk yet, but she makes a lot of good sounds," Jill said. "She's making a lot of progress. She's just had so many setbacks, she hasn't had time to learn. She's got a lot of ground to make up."
Jill Schleuter-Kim has had a huge support group in helping her prepare for today's Chicago Marathon.
Art Kim, a Chicago teacher, encouraged her to keep running and often became Mr. Mom around the house.
Jill's sisters -- Jodi Aurand, Jane Kuva and Janet Salinas -- all help babysit the kids, as did their father, retired Highland mailman Carl Schleuter.
Her biggest inspiration, though, has been tiny Willa.
"I tell her sisters: 'Look what Willa has to go through, so don't complain,' " Jill said. "All her pain, all the surgeries, they're always taking her blood ... I do think about her a lot when I run and how hard she has to work for everything.
"It makes me want to work that much harder, too."
A field of 40,000 runners is scheduled to compete in today's world-famous endurance race that winds its way through 15 Chicagoland neighborhoods.
"People who have kids, especially kids with disabilities, it's so important to take time for yourself and do something. For me, it's running," Jill said. "It makes me feel better physically and mentally so I can face all this stuff.
"I need to be physically and mentally strong to care for Willa."
Aurand has two children and one on the way. Her siblings marvel at Jill's drive and persistence.
"She's really dedicated to her kids, especially Willa," said Jodi. "It's been a real challenge. With Willa, it's 24/7, plus being there for her other kids and her husband.
"There's not a lot of other things in Jill's life besides her kids and running. And running's not really a priority, it's just an outlet."
RUNNING | 28th CHICAGO MARATHON
When: 8 a.m. today
Where: Grant Park
Field: 40,000 runners; 1 million spectators
Prize money: $650,000
Winner's cut: The male and female winners each get $125,000.
TV: CBS
Records: Khalid Khannouchi, 2:05.42 (1999); Paula Radcliffe, 2:17.18 (2002)
Inside on C6
* Crown Point's Jim Johnson, 73, will be joined by daughter, granddaughters in today's race.
* A list of area runners scheduled to compete in marathon.
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