S.Sudanese Wheelchair Athlete Eyes Historic Nairobi Marathon Run to Fund Wheelchairs

(NAIROBI) – Michael Panther, a South Sudanese born athlete raised in Kenya, will attempt to become the first person in a wheelchair to complete the full 42 kilometre race at the Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon.

The marathon is scheduled for 25th October 2026. Panther will compete using a specialised racing wheelchair nicknamed the “Red Ferrari”.

His goal is not simply to finish the race. He hopes to raise 10 million Kenyan shillings, about 77,065 US dollars, or about 562.6 million South Sudanese pounds to fund the construction of custom fitted wheelchairs for children across Kenya.

Panther has been a familiar figure in wheelchair events at the Chicago Marathon since 2022. In his first Chicago Marathon that year, he raised 250,000 US dollars.

He has since taken part in four Chicago Marathon editions and three smaller marathons in the United States. Despite this experience, he insists he is not a professional wheelchair marathoner.

His main purpose is to raise funds for children in need of mobility.

“I want many children to have hope and dignity in their lives and be able to go to school,” he told media.

He also wants to create awareness about the need for inclusivity for people living with disabilities.

The journey that brought Panther to this point began in South Sudan. He fell ill at the age of 10, during a time when the country was torn by war and medical facilities were scarce.

“Because of the war, there were no medical facilities. So, my dad had to journey with me to come to Kenya in search of treatment,” he said.

Father and son reached Kakuma Refugee Camp in Turkana in 2005, but the treatment he needed was not available there.

Missionary doctors later arranged for him to be taken to AIC-CURE International Hospital in Kijabe.

By then, two years had passed since he first fell ill. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the spine, a disease that had already caused extensive damage.

He spent months in intensive care and about two more years in hospital. His loss of mobility was confirmed.

“I reached a point where I didn’t have hope in life,” he said.

An American doctor who treated him and his wife later became his legal guardians. Panther credits them with changing the course of his life.

“They couldn’t believe that I survived,” he said. “They felt like if they let me go to the refugee camp in a wheelchair, I would be nobody.”

Panther retained his South Sudanese name. His guardians took him to the Machakos School for the Physically Disabled, where he sat his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in 2008.

He later joined Hillcrest International Schools, completing his studies in 2012. He then went to the United States for tertiary education, studying economics at Louisiana State University.

America showed him what accessible infrastructure could do. Roads, buildings and transport systems allowed him to study, work and drive without first asking whether he could enter a place.

Yet his thoughts returned to Machakos, where he had seen pupils crawl to class or share a large trolley like wheelchair among three or four children.

“I don’t want to just sit at a computer for a nine to five job,” he remembered deciding. “I want to tell my story so that it can impact other people.”

In 2018, Panther brought to Kenya a container of wheelchairs collected from various well wishers. More than 1,000 people turned up during the distribution.

The following year, the shipment grew to two containers and later four. He left his business job in 2020 to concentrate on the work.

His organisation, Hope Mobility, now has close to 40 employees, including therapists, mechanics and technicians.

Teams go into counties to assess recipients and fit devices. Panther says the organisation has provided more than 15,000 wheelchairs since 2018, including 3,500 last year.

He expects to distribute more than 4,000 this year. The distinction between donating a chair and providing an appropriate wheelchair is central to his work.

The World Health Organisation reported in May 2023 that its wheelchair provision guidelines emphasise individual assessment, fitting, user training and follow up by trained personnel. The World Health Organisation also estimated that 80 million people, or 1% of the world’s population, are likely to require a wheelchair to assist their mobility.

“We don’t just give wheelchairs, because these are medical devices,” Panther said. “We customise them to meet the needs of the individual.”

A poorly matched chair can worsen posture and create new health problems. A child who cannot hold up the upper body may need harnesses, specialised supports and a tray.

“This wheelchair that I’m in right now can be very useless to somebody because it depends on the type of disability,” he said. “Sometimes a wheelchair can cause more problems to you if it’s not the right wheelchair.”

That need pushed his organisation into starting the production of paediatric wheelchairs in Kenya in 2024, working with partners in the United States.

It produced 1,000 in its first year and aims for about 2,000 this year. Still, he describes the output as “a drop in the ocean”.

He estimates the national need among children at about 200,000 devices and wants production eventually to reach 10,000 paediatric chairs a year.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reported in its 2019 census analytical report that 918,270 persons with disabilities were recorded. The National Council for Persons with Disabilities has cited a shortfall of about 550,000 wheelchairs and assistive mobility devices, including 200,000 needed by children.

Panther knows how a wheelchair can transform a child’s life.

“You’ve been lying on the ground; you cannot move. With this one, now you can move around. You can go to the washroom. You can sit down, you can eat by myself,” he said. “It gives them freedom and dignity.”

The effect reaches caregivers too. Parents who have carried children for years often develop back problems as the children grow heavier.

A suitable chair can allow a child to attend school and free a parent to work.

“A wheelchair really makes somebody alive,” Panther said. “You just see them light up.”

The marathon is scheduled to start and finish around Uhuru Gardens, with runners assembling off the Southern Bypass.

The programme includes a 21 kilometre wheelchair race, but Panther plans to tackle the full 42 kilometres.

“This will be historic because no person in a wheelchair has ever done a 42 kilometre marathon here in Kenya,” he said.

Organisers of the Standard Chartered marathon say the 2025 event drew 184 wheelchair athletes and more than 80 participants with other disabilities, up from 153 participants with disabilities in 2024.

The full distance attempt is a different proposition from Chicago. Panther says Nairobi’s hills and altitude make it tough.

He realised this when he attempted training on the Southern Bypass recently.

“Going up the hill, you feel like you cannot breathe,” he said. “This is going to be my toughest marathon that I’ll ever do in my life.”

He is targeting three hours, perhaps three and a half, but insists the clock is secondary.

“I’m not here to set a record,” he said. “Maybe the only milestone is that I will be the first person to do the marathon. I know the next person who will come and do it will break that record in a minute.”

Eliud Kipchoge’s visit to Hope Mobility added encouragement. Panther said the two time Olympic champion repeated to him his “no human is limited” motto. The BBC reported in December 2025 that Kipchoge has often said the phrase reflects his belief that everyone can achieve more than they think is possible.

“It was very humbling for him to come and pay us a visit and to be able to support me and encourage me,” he said.

The 10 million shilling target would fund 200 customised paediatric wheelchairs at about 50,000 shillings each. Panther says all donations will go to production.

He is a child of three countries: South Sudan is his birthplace, Indiana in the United States is where the organisation began, and Kenya is the country that gave him treatment, schooling and what he calls a second chance.

Now he hopes that a gruelling 25th October morning on Nairobi’s roads can offer respite to hundreds of children.