Thanks to Wilma Rudolph, the idea of ​​overcoming everything doesn't seem so far-fetched. Wilma Rudolph may have been an Olympic runner, but she couldn't escape her problems. Being born into an African-American family in the 1940s was just the beginning of a life filled with hardships. Her family faced segregation that not only affected how they were treated, but also the type of medical care they received. When Wilma was born prematurely, weighing only 4.5 pounds, on June 23, 1940, she was unable to receive the medical care she needed. She was turned away from the local hospital simply because of the color of her skin. Although there was a local black doctor who would help care for Wilma, her mother Blanche who was a maid and her father Ed who was a railroad porter, did not have enough money to pay the doctor . Wilma's parents knew their daughter was extremely ill, but with a family of twenty-two children, it was difficult for them to pay anything. Wilma's mother and family did their best to care for her themselves. His life continued with one illness after another. Wilma was never able to receive the medications she needed to be healthy and it seemed like she was always sick. Most of the illnesses she overcame were not just the "cold", Wilma suffered from whooping cough, measles, mumps and chickenpox. When Wilma was just four years old, she contracted polio. This disease is also known as polio. Polio not only weakened her body as a whole, but made her more vulnerable to disease. Not only was she battling the infantile paralysis virus, but she had to overcome scarlet fever and double pneumonia. Soon, polio spread to Wilma's left leg and foot, leaving...... middle of paper ...... her four children, Wilma was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer and a brain tumor at the age of 54. . She was transported to many different hospitals. It was an illness that Wilma was not able to overcome. She died at her home in 1994 in Brentwood, Tennessee. Her extraordinary calm and grace are what people remember most about Wilma Rudolph. As 1960 Olympic teammate Bill Mulliken said, “She was beautiful, she was kind, and she was the best” (“Wilma Rudolph”). Wilma is remembered not only as the fastest woman in the world, but especially for her way of bringing people together. “Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit,” Wilma Rudolph once said. “We are all the same in this notion. The potential for greatness lives in each of us” (Sholander). Wilma Rudolph was a true inspiration and proved that anything is possible.