NBC News New York (IPTV)

the new york city marathon begins in a little over a week and one runner will be taking his mark against all expectations news, fort's melissa colorado has the marathon miracle story. to run the new york city marathon in under five. h. you have to train. consistently, 28 year-old adrian lasco of east harlem is doing just that. sunday long runs, monday recovery runs. the mental game is where many runners fail. for nasco, his mental strength might be his biggest asset. i feel, though, i'm not going to act like i have. you can see all the scars and stuff. this after nearly losing his life last year while he was studying abroad in africa, on a trip to tanzania, he hopped on the back of a moped when a cars? struck him at full speed and sped away. i flew into the bush. his leg split in half managed to save my life. almost died. doctors in south africa told him his shattered right leg was infected. there was no choice but to amputate it by the time he got back home to the us. lasco was grappling with life as an amp. t. and dealing with excruciating nerve pain. pretty much when i was stepping it was like i was stepping on the nerve, so i was feeling that constant pain. that's when the team at the center of amputation reconstruction at nyu langone stepped in to perform. nerve surgery it's like having a live wire in your leg. the nerve was cut and it wasn't connected to anything after the imputation. it was around that time that adrian entered his name in a lottery for a chance to run in the new york city marathon. if i could do a marathon, it would help me recover faster it would help my body get stronger. s feet would have it. i just won the lottery, i literally got lucky. it was like one in a 1,000,000 chances. the la sco is proof that stamina comes from within. i spent most of my childhood in the system. from 18 to 2021, i was homeless in group homes and shelters. the ability to adapt is what makes this athlete a champion already. i could do stuff now that i wasn't able to do before. yeah, like, i could spend an entire day in my apartment with no prosthetic, just hopping around. and after the new york city marathon. adrian isn't done competing yet. look out for him next summer he's hoping to compete in the 2027. usa triathlon nationals. in des, moines, iowa, that's the latest here in. midtown east i'm. elsa, colorado is for new york. that is incredible. wow, good luck to adrian ok.