CLEVELAND — October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and Chrissy Giebel, a 43-year-old Ohioan who has Down syndrome, has been inspiring others in the weight room.

What You Need To Know

  • October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

  • The month is dedicated to celebrating people like Chrissy Giebel 

  • Giebel works incredibly hard in the weight room and her story is inspiring others

Giebel has been training with Ben Hornak from the YMCA for several months.

“Trying to be healthy,” Giebel said.

“Chrissy’s definitely probably my favorite client. Every time I see her, she always puts a smile on my face,” Hornak said.

Giebel’s Down syndrome doesn’t stop her from accomplishing her goals in the weight room.

“For the most part, I just train her just like anyone else I would train,” Hornak said.

Hornak has always been supportive of the Down syndrome community — his 13-year-old sister also has it. Hornak explained that it helps him be a better trainer for Giebel.

“Shaped me to be a different person, a better person, I’d say in my life definitely. Huge impact and just transferring it over with Chrissy,” Hornak said.

One of Giebel’s goals in the gym was to get stronger for her family’s trip to Disney in the fall and Hornak has helped her along the way.

“We always do some type of cardio. So recently I incorporated in, we started calling them Disney laps, because she said she’s going to Disney soon, so every time we take our laps around the track we’ll do like an exercise, we’ll do our two Disney laps and then go back and do it again,” Hornak said.

“My legs are stronger,” Giebel said.

Hornak expressed that he hopes others see Giebel’s success in the gym and that they are inspired by it.

“Maybe if other people with special needs happen to see our stuff, any of our stuff and they’re like ‘oh you know like she can do it, I’d love to go do something like that',” Hornak said.