Running helping Hersh — on & off track

VHS runner Abby Hersh runs her first half marathon with her mom, Melissa. 

 Submitted photo

Strong. Stubborn. Determined.

Any person who takes up running — competitively or recreationally — has to be a bit of all those things.

That’s how Melissa Hersh describes her youngest daughter, Abigail.

But it’s not because Abigail is a runner that just finished her sophomore season competing as a member of The Villages High School’s cross country and track and field teams. It’s because “Abby” runs — with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

One of the most common types of arthritis in kids and teens, JIA can cause joint pain and inflammation in the hands, knees, ankles, elbows, and/or wrists.

It attacks Abby’s knees.

But she’s strong, stubborn, and determined enough not to let it stop her.

Read this story and many others in Thursday's edition of the Daily Sun.