The Miracle of Kathy Miller (1981)

Synopsis
Helen Hunt is outstanding as the real-life Kathy Miller, a 13-year-old Arizona athlete and honor student whose world came screeching to halt in 1977. Struck by a car on a lonely highway, Kathy spends the next ten weeks in a coma. Upon awakening, she is unable to walk, talk, read or write: she has sustained massive brain damage and her leg has been mutilated. The experts say "No hope", but neither Kathy nor her parents (Sharon Gless, Frank Converse) will settle for that diagnosis. After eight torturous months of physical and mental therapy, Kathy Miller is entered in a 6-mile race -- the first of many stepping stones to her ultimate status as a world champion. Made for television, The Miracle of Kathy Miller was written with an emphasis on optimism and a minimum of sentimental gush by Mel and Ethel Brez. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide