Heroes Spotlight: Runner Has the Heart of a Hero

Chicago native, Jim Zacharias had never heard of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, let alone the fact that his own grandfather lived there in the early 1900s.

Then, in the late 1980s, he received a letter from Mercy Home urging him to make a donation to help our young people. The appeal moved him to support our mission financially, and he signed up to become a Guardian Angel, a group of supporters who commit to making monthly donations to the Home. But it wasn’t until decorating for Christmas several years after becoming a monthly donor that he learned of a previously unknown family connection to Mercy Home. 

As a thank you for being a Guardian Angel, he received a Mercy Home Christmas ornament.  He hung it on his tree.  

“My mom was over visiting, saw the ornament, and then asked me where it was from,” Jim said. “I told her Mercy Home and that's when she let me know that her dad, my grandfather, was at Mercy Home as a child.” 

 Jim only knew two things about his grandfather. He knew his name was Stephen Dayner and that he was born in 1903.

In 2022, he felt an urge, almost a calling, to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. One of the world’s major marathons, it’s the kind of grand challenge that entices thousands to toe the starting line each October. And in 2022, it called out to Zacharias. The only hurdle, he thought, was getting an entry. But he knew about the marathon’s charity program, which allows participants to secure a spot by running on behalf of an official nonprofit and raising donations.

“So, I said, I'll look for a charity to run for. And when I googled Chicago Marathon charities, Mercy Home was the first one that came up,” Zacharias said. “’Well, that's obviously fate,' I thought. There's no doubt which one I'm going to pick.”  

Zacharias joined the Mercy Home Heroes in 2022 and crossed the finish line, completing his fifth marathon, and building on his years-long commitment as a Guardian Angel donor by literally going many extra miles for our boys and girls. 

Feeling empowered, he was eager to run again in 2024, but during a routine physical, a nurse brought up concerns about his heart. Zacharias always had a heart murmur, but it hadn’t caused any complications in the past. 

He insisted he was fine because he had no symptoms to prevent him from doing any physical activity. But eventually, he got an exam. 

“If I would have run that marathon, according to the cardiologist and surgeon, I might not be here,” he said. 

As he learned, his heart valve was in bad shape, and he was lucky to still be alive even then. 

“The next thing I know I’m having open heart surgery in November. [They] replaced a valve in my heart,” he said.

His surgery was a success, and the heart murmur is gone. After a week in the hospital, Zacharias left ready to take on a new mission⎯ the 2025 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.  

On his way out of the hospital, Zacharias saw his surgeon, who was shocked that his patient was up and moving so soon after his surgery. 

When he got home, he was still weak and tired from the surgery. That was expected, but it made it difficult for Zacharias to lift more than 10 pounds or drive a car. But his wife and son helped him every step of the way. 

It’s been a few months since his surgery, and he’s been going for light jogs, hoping to get back to full speed and strength. 

Zacharias searched for a deeper meaning of it all and tried to understand it. In that struggle, he found the motivation to press on.

“When all this happened, and I was feeling sorry for myself, I had an epiphany that this is just another thing that I need to overcome, "he said. “I want to overcome it.”

When his marathon dreams were put on hold last year, Zacharias still attended the Heroes pasta dinner days before the race. He told his friend that he would be back in 2025, not only for dinner but to run the marathon. 

He yearns to do whatever it takes to cross the finish line and has advice for people who may be hesitant to run a marathon because of their past injuries or illnesses.

Zacharias mentioned that it’s important to know your why and use it as a driving force to help you push past the pain. 

“Whatever you’re facing, if you want something you can overcome it,” he said.

He’s determined to complete his sixth marathon this year, wearing his permanent surgery scar on his chest, his hospital bracelet, and a pin with a deceased friend’s last name etched on it. 

 “It’s a mission for me now to get back out there and do it again,” he said.