Termaine Hicks at the 2022 Innocence Network Conference (Photo Credit: Kenny Karpov/Innocence Project)

Do you know anyone running the upcoming New York City Marathon, John? We do!

Termaine Hicks is an Innocence Project exoneree who spent 19 years in prison after Philadelphia police shot him three times in the back while he was trying to help a woman who had been attacked. As if that wasn’t egregious enough, the police engaged in a cover up,  planted a gun on him and wrongly arrested him for attacking the woman he was actually trying to assist. With the help of the Innocence Project, Termaine was freed and exonerated in 2020.

Termaine’s hard-fought path to freedom was about more than getting out of prison — it was also about reclaiming his body, his spirit, and his will. With bullet fragments still lodged in his spine, he not only endured the trauma of a wrongful arrest and conviction, he also faced the challenge of learning how to walk again. Now, he's running the New York City Marathon, an event that is much more than just a 26.2-mile race to him. It's a celebration of his resilience, both on the track and in life.

"It amplifies what freedom means to me. I don’t have to do it — I choose to do it. In prison, [I ran because] I wanted to stay as healthy as possible, to survive. Now, I’m running because I enjoy it."
— Termaine Hicks

Termaine will be running alongside his Innocence Project attorney, Vanessa Potkin. She fought for his freedom and exoneration in 2020, and today, they’ll cross the finish line together. 

We’re excited to support both Termaine and Vanessa today as they complete this incredible milestone. To read more about how Termaine Hicks prepared for running the world’s biggest stage, click here: 

Thank you, 

Innocence Project