Remember the University of Alaska Anchorage cross-country runner who went missing late last fall only to be found alive and later to have his frostbitten feet amputated?
ESPN has produced a magazine-length article and video of Marko Cheseto's ordeal. It's titled "Into the Wild: His feet brought Marko Cheseto from Kenya to Alaska. Then a tragic run into his own private storm forced him to change course."
Cheseto, who grew up in Kenya, was a two-time winner of the NCAA Division II cross-country running regionals, and set the record in the 2010 Mayor's half-marathon in Anchorage.
But in November, something happened. He headed outside not dressed for the elements, wearing only a light coat and jeans as Anchorage temperatures fell into the single digits.
Ultimately, his feet -- his gift -- would be lost to what Cheseto at the time acknowledged were some "personal issues."
ESPN writer Seth Wickersham recreates the events that led Cheseto to come to Alaska, the troubles he encountered, and the healing that has only just begun:
He's in the first days of his new life. A man who could run farther and faster than almost anybody in the world now sits to shower. He washes his hands only in warm water because his frostbitten fingers are sensitive to cold. He removes his legs at night and massages his stumps. In the morning, he fits his nubs into cups at the top of plastic shins, then pushes down hard, as if he's squeezing into ski boots.