Tommy Weber (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        In 1996 Tommy Weber watched an Olympic torch runner cover a stretch of Montgomery Road, urged on by cheers from the crowd. Tommy thought: Wouldn't that be really cool if I could do that?

        The 14-year-old Anderson Township boy's dream will come true at 8:51 a.m. Dec. 18 on Madison Road in Hyde Park.

        He won't wear his brace, the one he's worn most of the last three years. He takes it off to run. It's made of fiberglass and metal, fits around his torso, and is supposed to straighten his curved spine.

        He was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 5. At 7, he began wearing a body brace to bed. Eventually he was told to wear one 23 hours a day.

        He took it off to play baseball, soccer and basketball. And to run cross country this fall at St. Xavier High, where he is a freshman.

        His condition isn't painful. Unless you consider what's it's like for a teen to wear a body brace that's visible to classmates.

        “I think socially it kind of hurt to have to wear that at school,” says his mother, May Weber. She and her husband, Mike, nominated Tommy to carry the torch, along with some classmates.

        Because the brace hasn't been as effective as hoped, Tommy is tentatively scheduled for surgery in April. A six-month recuperation period could put a crimp in his plans to run cross country next fall.

        For now he's focused on Dec. 18. He won't go full speed.

        “I think my mom kind of wants me to run somewhat slow. She said I could savor the moment.”

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