Houghton’s Maria Velat competes in the 100-meter dash during the MHSAA Division 1 regional meet on Thursday, May 20, 2021, in Houghton, Mich. (Eddie O’Neill/The Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — In October 2019, 15-year-old Maria Velat woke up and headed off to Houghton High School to start her day.

By 9 a.m., she was a quadriplegic.

She was rushed to the local hospital and then quickly air lifted downstate to the University of Michigan where she was diagnosed with myelitis, an extremely rare condition related to inflammation of the transverse region of the spinal cord. According to her dad, John, there is a one in a million chance of getting it. While it can be managed, there is no cure for this debilitating condition that often strikes fast with no real symptoms.

“We were at the hospital for two months with Maria as doctors tried to figure out what to do,” said John. “The doctors think it is related to a virus. The immune system decides to attack a specific part of the spinal cord for some reason. If it goes untreated it can cause permanent paralysis. Fortunately, for us we were able to catch it relatively early, and she is able to use a crutch to get around.”

On Thursday, Maria, now a junior, was in lane six at the MHSAA Division 1 regional meet in her specially designed racing chair. She competed in two events, the 100-meter and 400-meter dash. She clocked in at 29 seconds in the 100.

“I’ve done better,” she said with a smile. “I think this is my best on a rubber track. Ontonagon was my best time as they have an asphalt track. Calumet was the worst because it was a new rubber track.”

This was not her first track-and-field event. The Houghton junior has been competing in these two events all year. As well, she was on the Gremlins’ cross country team in the fall where she used a special hand-peddled bike, and she competed in cross-country skiing with the Ski Tigers in her sit ski chair. She was a standout athlete in all of these sports before the onset of her condition.

“She was an athlete before this and is still an athlete. She just competes in a different way,” said her dad. “There is no doubt in my mind that being a strong athlete has helped her get back on her feet and helped her work hard. Her perseverance is inspiring.”

While racing down the track and the snow is wonderful, the Velat family and Maria’s supporters are not satisfied with status quota. In 35 states across the nation, adaptive or para athletes are officially sanctioned.

“In Michigan, para athletes (like Maria) can compete but their times are not sanctioned, and their results do not contribute to the team,” said John. “If Michigan would adapt the national standards for para athletes, then athletes like Maria could advance onto regionals, state meets and even nationals, but that is not the case. So, she cannot go onto U.P. Finals because there is no standard set for her to qualify. The MHSAA has no qualification for wheelchair racers.”

John added that in a 2016 disability report on Michigan, there were 1.6 million students accounted for in the State of Michigan. Of those students, 210,550 would qualify with a disability which would allow them to participate in para sports.

“That’s no small number,” he said. “It’s not 100 kids, it’s over 200,000 students who could be part of a sport, and sports is a great way to rehabilitate and not feel like the oddball.”

Maria said she was devastated when she got the diagnosis. But she knew she had to keep going.

“I’ve never really felt sorry for myself,” she said. “This was just the next step. I had to do what I had to do.”

She said that she is still working on her technique.

“The 400 meter is the toughest as I’m still building up my endurance.

She added that cross country was worse with the hand bike.

“Hills are very hard,” she said. “But it (the bike) does come with gears so that helped.”

As she made the last turn Thursday in the 400 and headed for the finish line, cheers of “Let’s go Maria” echoed throughout the crowd.

Outside of her family, her biggest fan club is her Gremlins teammates and coaches.

“She is truly inspiring to everyone,” said Houghton girls track and field coach Alissa Schmidt. “Our team has been so welcoming, and they lover her. She worked hard before this, and that hasn’t changed.”