A winning spirit

When 12-year-old Millie Suggs rode her wheelchair in a Family Fun race at Disney World in January, two second-year medical students offered moral and medical support. Deborah Kaplan, who met Millie six years ago through her sister, a teacher, ran in a marathon while Michele Flagge accompanied Suggs during the 5-kilometer race. Suggs, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident when she was 2, won a prize as the only wheelchair racer. Thanks to her friendship with Suggs, Kaplan wants to be a pediatric physiatrist when she graduates. “Millie has taught me so much about the human spirit,” she said.