Waking up every morning before the sunrise, tying his Nike running shoes, putting on his black skintight spandex running shorts, and his oversized hooded sweatshirt to go for a run was the norm for a young man named Zach Towers.  The ground blanketed in dew and the fog covered the earth. To many people this would not seem fun but for Towers it was the perfect time to practice.
    Towers was born with severe asthma. Now at age 20, he has faced this illness for almost a quarter of a century.   As the only child in his family, born and raised in a small town of Diamond, MO. Towers struggled through life battling asthma. 
    Asthma affected him in many ways throughout his adolescence. Towers was hospitalized numerous times for severe asthma attacks at an early age.  He talked about the days when his asthma was the worst.
    “I realized when my asthma would start to bother me because I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the other kids,” Towers said. “I wouldn’t be able to push myself when I played sports.  My throat would close up, my chest would get tight and my breathing would get shorter.”
    Towers was tired of the other kids constantly making fun of him for his medical disability. He wanted to change how people saw him but most importantly he wanted to change how he felt and what he could accomplish. 
    “They would point and laugh at me,” said Towers. “The other kids would say things like, oh look there’s the kid with asthma.”
    He was fed up with it. Asthma was ingrained into his life and Towers truly believed that there was nothing he could do about it.
    Asthma hit home for Towers in the 3rd grade when he started to play baseball.
    “I wouldn’t even be moving while I was on the baseball field,” Towers said. “I would be standing there and the air around me would set it off.”
    In addition to baseball, Towers also played basketball.  Basketball played indoors decreased his environmental influencers that could start an attack of asthma. Playing sports became a natural part of Zach’s life. Asthma would hold him back from playing to his full potential.
    Research states one out of three college athletes have symptoms of bronchospasm, also referred to as exercise induced asthma.  Towers is one of many athletes who struggles with this illness.
    Towers took various types of medications through his life in hope of the ridding himself of asthma attacks.  Every visit to the doctors’ office, Towers would be prescribed a new medication to try. He saw this as a Band-Aid, never a cure.
    “I was on 3 types of oral medications, 2 inhalers, one for each pocket and a breathing machine I had to use twice a day,” said Towers. “The breathing machine looked like a small briefcase and I would always carry it with me.”
    Taking numerous medications and using a breathing machine became a part of Towers’ daily routine.  He didn’t know any better.  Even with all of the numerous medications he took on a daily basis, Towers was still vulnerable to attacks. 
    “One day I was walking out of school, inhaler in one hand and my breathing machine in it’s briefcase in the other,” Towers said.  “My dad saw my struggle with the everyday task of breathing and finally said enough was enough.”
    His father was not the average parent.  He wouldn’t take his child back to the doctor every time something was wrong and have him be put on more medications.  Zach’s father had a major in biology and a minor in botany. 
    Mr. Towers wasted no time and started to look for solutions.  Reading through books, the Internet and asking people around town, he was determined to find a cure for his son.
    Mr. Tower’s research paid off. After all of the research he found an herbal substance called, “Four”.  This herbal medicine would not cure the asthma completely however, it was supposed to wean Zach off of his medicine cabinet full of inhalers and other pills.
    “When I was on the medication, Four, I had to take 3 pills two times a day” Towers said.  “I didn’t realize what this herbal medicine could do for me. I had been taking medicine my whole life and it had become a part of me.”
    The results were not instant by any means.  After almost two full years of being on Four, Zach was off all of his other inhalers and medications. Finding this herbal solution was a miracle for Towers.  Four never cured asthma completely.  There were times when the asthma would still affect Towers. Even though he was off all of his other meds, asthma would still sneak up on him.
    “You can never really escape asthma.” Towers said. “I still get a scare every once in awhile. When that happens I know that I can get through it.  I just have to stop and relax.”
    Starting 7th grade, Towers started to run track to stay in shape for basketball.  Adding track to his life, Towers eventually gave up baseball.  He realized he wasn’t improving. After quitting baseball he thought of running cross-country.
      “Somewhere deep down inside of me there was a voice that said, try running,” Towers said.  “So I did.”
    The first year Towers ran track he found out that this was harder than it looked. This didn’t stop him.  He was determined to compete. Towers had his heart set on overcoming his ongoing fight with asthma.
    Towers told a story about his early years in track.  At his first race there were 30 different kids from all over Missouri striving to win first place. There was one kid who was 5 feet 5 inches, running in the same race as Towers. This little runner had a longer stride than Towers.  Towers didn’t understand how that could be possible being 6 feet 2 inches. Towers was lost in this new world of cross-country.
    “I had no clue what I was doing,” Towers said. “My dad stepped in after watching me struggle.”
    This was the help and encouragement Towers needed to become a cross-country runner.
    His sophomore year Towers made it to the state conference, running cross-country.  During the race, Towers knew something was wrong. His chest started to tighten up and his vision became blurry.  With only a mile left, Towers passed out from a grueling asthma attack.  This attack was the worst Towers has had yet. 
    Towers put it in simple terms and said, “I felt like I was going to die!”
    This gave him the motivation to not give up.  He kept practicing every day.  Towers was not going to let this ruin his life. The next year he made it back to the state conference and won his race.
     “This was the most pivotal moment in my life.” Towers said.  “ I knew after that attack, I would never stop running.  Nothing was going to hold me back.”
    Towers never had plans to run in college until a coach from Park University met with him. He discussed running cross-country for the university. The coach thought Towers would be a great addition to the team.  Towers never told the Park University coach what he really wanted to do. He wanted to become a pharmacist and study at UMKC.  His junior year of high school, he chose Park because the scholarship they offered him. 
    His first year at Park, Towers spent all of his free time practicing. Practicing had paid off.  He became a better runner.  Mid-way through his freshman year in college, Towers hit another bump in the road that almost stopped his running career.  He got a stress fracture in his lower left leg.  This might have been the point in his life were Towers was going to give up.  The fracture healed after numerous hospital visits. Towers, an inspiration, got right back on his feet and started running again.
    Today, Towers runs an average of 60 miles per week.  He has had no asthma attacks since he started running in college.  Waking up while most college students would be sleeping, Towers runs every morning at 8 am, and again after class. Towers runs close to 8 miles every day.
    “I thrive to run in the cold weather,” Towers said.  “When most can’t breath in the cold, that’s when I breathe the best.”
    Towers will always be running.  He has no intentions of ever stopping.  No one can ever tell you that you can’t do something.  Towers is a great example of that.  When faced with adversity, Towers taught a valuable life lesson.  Anyone can accomplish anything if they have the desire and determination.
    “It has become a part of me, ingrained in my life, my blood.  I have gone through so much in life,” Towers said.  “If I told anyone that I would stop running, I would be lying through my teeth.”