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Strength in spirit at Wahiawa Pineapple Run

By Kat Wade / Special to the Star-Advertiser

May 12, 2019

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Kanoa Morris, 8, left, his sister, Aulani Duarte, 11, and mom, Meira Va’a prepare Saturday for the Wahiawa Pineapple Run at Kaala Elementary School.
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Aulani Duarte, 11, who participates in Special Olympics gets situated in her wheelchair by her mom, Meira Vaʻa.
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Meira Vaʻa, center, heads for the starting line towing her daughter Aulani Duarte, 11, while followed by her son, Kanoa Morris, 8, and fiance, Alex Nelson.
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Meira Vaʻa, 34, was injured in a car accident at 15 and has limited use of her legs.
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Meira Vaʻa rides a specialized hand-pedal bike towing her daughter Aulani, 11, in her wheelchair.
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Meira Vaʻa, center, washes Aulani Duarte's face while she and her fiance Alex Nelson, left, and son, Kanoa Morris, right, wait for runners to start the race.
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Meira Vaʻa waits for the runners to start before heading for the starting line while towing her daughter Aulani Duarte, 11.
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Meira Vaʻa, center, starts the Wahiawa Pineapple Run with her family.
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Meira Vaʻa, center, starts the race with a smile on her face.
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Meira Vaʻa is determined to get up the first hill of the race in her recumbent bike with Aulani in tow and Kanoa walking with them.
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Meira Vaʻa, left, makes it over the first hill of the race.
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At 15, Meira was in a car accident in Samoa that fractured three vertebrae, damaged her spinal cord and left her in a coma for almost four months. She credits a visit from “a guardian angel at my bedside” that helped her get out of that hospital bed.
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Nearly two hours from the start of the race, Meira Vaʻa, left, heads for the finish line with a smile on her face alongside her family.
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Kanoa Morris, 8, pushes his sister Aulani Duarte, 11, over the finish line where she receives a participation medal from Todd Woolworth.
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Kanoa Morris, 8, left, hugs and kisses his mom, Meira Vaʻa, after they finished the Wahiawa Pineapple Run.
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Meira Vaʻa, left gives her daughter Aulani Duarte, 11, a sip of water after they finished the race.
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Coach Jim Ritchie, left, chats with Alex Nelson, Kanoa Morris, 8, his sister, Aulani Duarte, 11, and mom, Meira Vaʻa.
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The Leeward Jaguars Special Olympics coach, Jim Ritchie, left, goes to meet Aulani Duarte, 11, her brother Kanoa Morris, 8, her motherʻs fiance, Alex Nelson, and mom, Meira Vaʻa, after they finished the race in just under two hours.
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Meira Vaʻa has progressed from years in a wheelchair to under-arm crutches, then elbow crutches. Now, she only uses one crutch. Her goal as an athlete is to do a triathlon. Her goal as a mom is to have Aulani with her.
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Fiance, Alex Nelson, loads the specialized hand-pedal bike after they finished 44th Annual Wahiawa Pineapple Run.
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