The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old-fashioned, pot-bellied stove. A little boy had the job of coming to school early each day to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher and classmates arrived.

     One morning they arrived to find the schoolhouse in flames. They dragged the unconscious little boy out of the burning building more dead than alive. He had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital.

     From his bed the seriously burned, semi-conscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die—which was for the best, really—for the terrible fire had destroyed the lower half of his body.

     But the brave boy didn’t want to die. He made up his mind that he would survive. Somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive. When the danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire had destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost be better if he had died, since he was doomed (注定) to be a lifetime cripple with no use at all of his lower limbs.

     Once more the boy made up his mind. He would not be a cripple. He would walk. But unfortunately from the waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just dangled there, all but lifeless.

     Later he was released from the hospital. Every day his mother would massage（对……按摩/推拿） his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever.

     When he wasn’t in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair. He pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him.

     He wanted to get over the white fence. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence and began dragging himself along it. He started to do this every day until he wore a smooth path all around the yard beside the fence. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs.

     Finally through his daily massages, his iron persistence and his determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk haltingly(蹒跚地), then to walk by himself — and then — to run.

     He began to walk to school, then to run to school, and finally to run for the joy of running. Later in college he joined the track team.

     Still later in Madison Square Garden this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, and who could never hope to run — this determined young man, Dr Glenn Cunningham, ran the world’s fastest mile!

决心的力量

    一只老式的大肚煤炉被用作乡村校舍取暖之用。一个小男孩每天早晨提前到学校生火，在老师和学生们到来之前让房间里变得暖和一些。

一天，他们到学校时发现校舍被熊熊烈火吞没。他们把失去知觉的小男孩从火中救出来，他已是奄奄一息了。他的下半身被严重烧伤，他们把他送往附近的一个乡村医院。

被严重烧伤、神志不清的小男孩躺在床上，模糊地听到医生在对他母亲说话。医生告诉他母亲，他儿子难逃一死--这已经是老天慈悲了--因为可怕的大火已经烧坏了他的下半身。

但勇敢的小男孩并不想死。他决心活下来。不知何故，让医生惊讶不已的是，他居然活了下来。当危险期过去之后，他又听到医生对他母亲悄悄说：因为大火吞噬了他下肢的许多肌肉，他要是真死了倒好了，这下他注定要做一辈子的残废人，他无法再活动他的双腿。

这个勇敢的男孩再一次下定决心。他不想做一个瘸子。他要走路。但不幸的是，他腰部以下无法活动。他细瘦的双腿在那里摇摇晃晃，但一点儿也没有知觉。

他终于出院了。每天他母亲要为他按摩双腿。但他毫无知觉。然而他再次站起来的决心依然是那么坚定。

除了在床上的时候，他就坐在一张轮椅中。在一个阳光明媚的一天，他母亲推着轮椅，让他到院子里呼吸新鲜空气。这一天，他不再坐在轮椅里，而是用自己的上身扑下轮椅，他拖着双腿，在草地上爬行。

他爬到院子的围栏边。他费力地抓住围栏，让自己的身体直立起来。然后，一根栏杆接着一根栏杆，他开始拉住围栏把自己向前拖，一边心中想着自己一定会走。他开始每天这样锻炼，直到院子的围栏边拖出了一条小径。他一心想着自己能再次走路。

最后，通过他每日按摩和钢铁般的毅力和决心，他终于能够自己站立了，接着，他可以自己摇摇晃晃地行走--接着--他可以自己跑了。

他开始步行去学校，然后跑步上学，他跑步纯粹是出于那种飞跑的快乐。在大学里，他入选校田径队。

后来，在麦迪逊广场花园，这个没想到会活下来、肯定无法行走、更别梦想跑步的意志坚定的年轻人，格兰•坎宁安博士，打破了一英里的世界纪录！