How a blind man found love, and a troubled teen became an inspiration.

After being blinded in a shooting, this man turned to a running group to get his life back on track. What he didn’t know was that he would find love.

Troubled Teenager

Anthony Butler born and raised in New York. Butler flipped burgers at McDonald’s because his father was a manager there. Also he bought and sold weed. After getting kicked out from five different high schools, he picked up his GED in lieu of graduating.

Working as Salesman for luxury watch Company

Though he was troubled, but still, Butler had ambition. He soon found a better way to earn money for medical administrative assistant school: selling luxury timepieces for Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker. He peddled the luxury timepieces like a pro; on a single day in September 2008, he sold 175 watches in an hour to a bus full of Brazilian tourists. Not bad for a 20-year-old kid working on commission.

Weed Dealing and Getting Shot

Butler continued his minor drug-dealing, and had warrants out for his arrest for skipping court dates. And late one night, he and his buddies found himself confronted with a rival crew. Though he urged everyone to stay cool, someone pulled out a gun. He was shot in the head on a street corner in the Bronx in September 2008.

Lost his Vision

He woke up the morning after he was shot handcuffed to a hospital bed. But there was hope: the bullet in his brain had taken his vision, not his life.

Positive Attitude

Butler had a positive attitude, but he still struggled at times to adapt to life as a blind man. "I didn't really know how to be disabled," he said.

That's when he decided to get into running, with the help of volunteers at Achilles International, an athletic group that pairs people with a variety of disabilities with running guides.

?Met with Rix

There, he met Jessie Rix. And his life changed. The two began running together, side-by-side, with a tether connecting them.

Rix guides the run, calling out low-hanging branches or bumps in the road. She also describes their surroundings. They talked about everything like: Running, Butler's past, Rix's relationship, which was falling apart.

Love, Run and Marathon

The two come from what Rix describes as "different worlds. He grew up in the city; she in rural Minnesota. Eventually, their friendship evolved into something more. Today, the two share an apartment in New York, and have run marathons together all over the world: in Paris, Chicago, Washington and California. The couple has logged serious miles. They’ve now completed five world marathons, including the famous New York City Marathon in late 2018. And they have no plans of stopping anytime soon!

Making The World A Better Place

A former troubled teen, Butler is now an inspiration. Butler was kicked out of school as a teenager and had a criminal past due to his small-time weed dealing. But he is now a social worker who has devoted his career to helping others, and he knows there is no such thing as a lost cause.

Story Credit: CNN