JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As thousands of runners raced through downtown Jacksonville at the Gate River Run Saturday, another rewarding race that was happening at the same time had the crowd cheering: the Brooks Challenge Mile.
This race enables and empowers individuals living with a disability, inviting them to wheel, walk, jog, or run.
Officer Malik Daricaud was one of the Brooks Challenge Mile participants who walked and rolled his way through downtown Jacksonville streets he once patrolled.
“My goal is to get back on my feet,” Daricaud said.
Daricaud, who uses a wheelchair to get around, had his son Malachi, his wife Jasmine and therapists from Brooks Rehabilitation by his side as he used the help of a walker to cross the finish line standing tall.
Daricaud has been working to move again over the past 11 months after he was shot nearly a year ago in the line of duty at a home on the Westside.
“My goal is to walk out of Brooks, my goal is to cross the finish line here, my goal is to keep on going until I get back to where I was,” Daricaud said.
Watch the full video of the 2024 Brooks Challenge Mile race below:
Matt Harms is a long-time newscast director at News4JAX who lost his leg due to a medical condition in October 2023.
“I’m nervous. I feel like I want to throw up but I’m pretty confident, we put in work, I’ve got my team around me but we’ll get there, it’s going to be hard work,” Harms said before the race.
He too has been going through rehabilitation and is learning to walk on a prosthetic.
Walking across the finish line six months after surgery was a big win for Harms and for so many other local fighters who are not letting their conditions stop them from chasing their dreams.
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Daricaud said he knows he has a long road ahead of him but he has help every step of the way.
“It felt great that I have a family of support. All my therapists and everyone who’s helped me along the way,” Daricaud said.