Andrea Smith Article (Minnesota)

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http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/06/08/64616/

Freshman pole-vaulter Andrea Smith derives courage from an ill brother
Smith’s older brother Brad is awaiting a slow-coming third pancreas transplant.
By David McCoy

o an extent, those who pole vault are regarded as living life on the edge. But that doesn’t cut it in Andrea Smith’s family.
Not when her brother is on the edge of life.

Andrea Smith is a freshman on Minnesota’s women’s track and field team. Her brother Brad Smith is a 22-year-old without a functioning pancreas.


Marshall Long
Andrea Smith’s biggest fan is also her biggest motivator. Her brother Brad attended her junior state track meet just a week and a half after receiving a pancreas transplant.
So at 7 p.m. Thursday, while she’s in Sacramento, Calif., competing in the qualifying round of the NCAA Championships in the pole vault, he will be hooked up to nutritional IVs, rooting his sister on from their home in Bemidji, Minn.

That’s something that makes Andrea Smith very grateful for this week’s opportunity.

“Everyone struggles and everyone has day-to-day issues with things, and you can let them get out of proportion,â€Â