SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Marathon will take over the Alamo City this weekend, and one Great Hearts Northern Oaks High School junior will be running a half-marathon wearing a life jacket.
For Briar Dohner, those 13.1 miles are about far more than finishing a race.
Two years ago, what began with Briar, her sister, and their dad sailing on Canyon Lake, nearly ended in tragedy.
“I look back, and all I remember is a blank mind,” said Dohner.
An unexpected gust of wind flipped their catamaran, throwing them into the water. For more than an hour, Briar fought to stay afloat, saved by a single decision she almost didn’t make.
“I almost didn’t put on my life jacket,” said Briar. “It was beautiful; water was clear, so I didn’t think I needed one. But there was just something that told me I should wear my life jacket today. My life jacket is what saved my life when the boat flipped.“
Her mother, Jessica, will never forget that day.
“I am so thankful that she chose to wear it, because honestly, I don’t think she would be here today if she didn’t,” said Briar’s mom.
Briar’s survival was a miracle, but the trauma stayed with her.
“A couple of months after the boating tragedy, I would wake up from these nightmares of water rolling over me,” Briar shared.
Instead of letting fear define her, Briar chose to champion her near-death experience for a greater purpose.
She founded Choose Life Jackets, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging her generation to wear life jackets.
“I created the mission statement to empower Gen Z and Gen Alpha to choose life jackets,” Briar said. “I believe it’s not a fashion statement; it’s a lifestyle.“
This weekend at the first San Antonio Marathon, Briar is putting that mission into action, running the half-marathon in the very device that saved her life.
“Part of my lifestyle is running, so I think speaking true to my nonprofit and what I project out onto the world, I wanted to convey the idea that I wear a life jacket in my lifestyle,” she said.
”When she chose to run it in a life jacket, I was like ‘Are you sure about that? Is that going to be hard?" said Jessica, Briar’s mother.
Briar will be joined by one of her nonprofit’s board members and coach, Pete Martinez, and she’s ready for any and all of the questions.
“’Why are you wearing that life jacket?’ and I’ll be like ‘Oh, it’s for my nonprofit — Choose Life Jackets.“
With one life jacket, 13.1 miles, and a message, Briar Dohner hopes she will save lives.
She is racing to reach 71,000 people with her “Save One Life” campaign. Statistically, given the annual number of drowning deaths in Texas and the population, she says at least one life could be saved.
Follow Briar’s story on Instagram here.
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