Marka Rodgers finishes Cooper Bridge Run, now wants to send message to insurance companies

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Marka Rodgers became the first incomplete quadriplegic to finish the Cooper River Bridge Run on Saturday but she isn't taking much time to rest.

"There were moments I didn't think I was going to make it. I knew I had to," she said.

And now she's setting her sights on something bigger than the Bridge Run.

Incomplete quadriplegic means there is, in fact, movement and sensation below the level of the injury in her spinal cord. A complete paraplegic would not have any sensation below the injury.

Rodgers would not have been able to run without special braces, which cost upward of $10,000 per leg.

"My insurance company has denied paying for my braces two times," she said. "They told me that my life would not be improved by standing in those braces."

Once a ballet dancer, Rodgers now gives lessons downtown. She said the braces have been crucial to teaching.

"I can't imagine living without dance being a part of my being," she said. "I am a dancer."

Jared McNeil helped fit Rodgers' braces.

"The denial stated Marka would do better with conventional style braces," he said of the insurance company's denial letter. "It would be next to impossible for her to do the bridge run with locked braces."

Rodgers says her insurance company isn't listening.

"I try and I get 'Well, we're working on it' is what I get," she said.

She credits her ability to teach her dance lessons on her ability to stand up and walk.

"As humans, we were meant to stand, not to sit."

Cathy Therrell oversees the Roper Rehabilitation Hospital. She says sitting in a chair all day can present health problems.

"It helps with lots of things besides blood flow," she said. "It helps with bone density because we're not standing on our bones all the time. All of those things are prevented from being able to stand."

The more she pursues her cause, she said, the more she finds herself within her studio.

"What kind of person would I be if I didn't share the knowledge I have?" she said. "It's important to me that people understand that modern technology can make a difference in people's lives."