Missouri – High School Discus Thrower with ITP Breaks Record
May 14, 2014; Posted by: WeBleed staff
Jonas Crump was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in 2010.
Jonas Crump didn’t give have any thought to try shot put and discus until a chance football to one of his shins landed him at the Mercy Hospital emergency room back in 2010. The day after the game, his leg swelled to the point that he had to go to the hospital for treatment and tests. A doctor diagnosed Crump with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and explained to him that contact sports would have to be out of the question going forward explaining that patients with ITP cause the body’s immune system to weaken and not clot as well as it should. Patients with ITP also bruise easily than most.
Crump made the tough decision to drop football, undergo continual treatment for his ITP and compete in track and field in throwing events as a freshman.
“Since they don’t know what caused it, it’s hard to treat it, so basically they’re just treating the symptoms. There is no actual cure for (ITP). My immune system attacks and kills my blood platelets, and so what they would do is flood my body with blood platelets and see if it would catch and stay in my body,” Crump told the Springfield News-Leader.
Last October, Crump received what his doctor told him was the last treatment option for ITP which would be four rounds of chemotherapy and spent some of his senior year in and out of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for treatment. Once his ITP was more manageable Crump trained hard for this year and so far it has been a tremendous turnaround. At a recent meet, Crump broke a 55-year-old school record for discus with a throw of 154 feet, 4 inches.
“I knew it was a really good throw. What I did was I just watched it go through the air, and it just kept on going and kept on going,” Crump said.
Although Crump still has quite a few more meets to qualify for state championships in Missouri, he has already accomplished quite a feat and has overcome medical hardship and diversity since his freshmen year of high school.
After high school, Crump says he plans to attend Baptist Bible College in Springfield to study to become a youth pastor.
Best of luck to Jonas as he finishes his high school career.
Photo Credit – Springfield News-Leader
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