Dawit Tesfaye was running the Addis Ababa Marathon in November 2022 — his first. He'd trained for eight months, partly to prove he could and partly to raise money for his nephew's medical treatment. At kilometre 39, his legs gave out completely. He collapsed on the roadside, three kilometres from the finish line.
The Collapse
Dawit's body simply stopped. Dehydration, cramping, and the altitude of Addis Ababa at 2,400 metres above sea level had combined to shut his muscles down. He tried to stand and fell. He tried to crawl. Medical volunteers started walking toward him with a stretcher.
But before they reached him, another runner — a man Dawit had never met — stopped. His name was Bereket. He was on pace for a personal best. Stopping would cost him thirty minutes. He stopped anyway.
"Can you walk if I hold you?" Bereket asked. Dawit shook his head. So Bereket did something extraordinary: he put Dawit's arm over his shoulders, gripped his waist, and half-carried, half-dragged him for three kilometres to the finish line.
The Three Kilometres
It took them forty-seven minutes. The crowd lining the route began to cheer — not for speed, but for something rarer. Two men, one carrying the other, moving slowly toward a line that one of them could have reached on his own.
At the finish line, both men collapsed. Medical staff treated them. Dawit's nephew's sponsor targets were met because a photo of the carry went viral in Ethiopian media.
What Changed Both of Them
Dawit had been running for his nephew but had never asked God for help. Lying on that road at kilometre 39, his exact thought was: "God, if You can see me, send help." Five seconds later, Bereket stopped.
Bereket, for his part, had been agnostic. When asked later why he stopped, he said: "Something told me to stop. Not a voice — a pull. Like my legs decided before my brain did. I've never done anything like that in my life."
They met for coffee a week later and discovered the coincidence: Dawit had cried out to God. Bereket had been pulled to stop. Neither had been a churchgoer. They now attend the same church in Addis Ababa.
"I asked for help at kilometre 39," Dawit says. "God answered at kilometre 39. Bereket didn't know he was an answer to prayer. But God knew. And now we're both His."
