Story by WOODTV (Lainey Gerber): — A track runner’s legs can take them all over the world, but Jerrensia Kroll doesn’t have any. Yet, she’s taking herself, her family and the Forest Hills Northern community to places they never knew to be possible. “Jerrensia’s taken us on an adventure that we never would have expected,” Jen Kroll, Jerrensia’s mom, said. “When you have a child in your home that has such significant disabilities, you don’t think you’re ever going to get to cheer her on from the sidelines as she runs a race.”
The race to this point has been long, even though Jerrensia is only 14. She was born with significant joint issues that severely limited her mobility. When her biological dad died in the Haiti earthquake in 2010, her biological mother knew she couldn’t care for Jerrensia on her own, so she had to give her up to an orphanage. There, she met Jen and Jay Kroll.
“We went to Haiti after the earthquake to do relief work and ended up at her orphanage, where we actually weren’t supposed to go,” Jen Kroll said. “We knew that we couldn’t just walk away and pretend that we hadn’t met her.”
So, the Krolls brought 14-month-old Jerrensia to Michigan on a medical visa. They thought she would get the help she needed, then she would go back to Haiti to be adopted. But some things are just meant to be.
To hear the full story, visit WOODTV’s website: https://www.woodtv.com/sports/with-no-legs-forest-hills-northern-athlete-runs-without-limits/