We wanted to show South Africans what their support can really do and change the negative perception around disabled athletes. Using motivational tweets that came from around the world, we built a 1.8Km (1Mile) running track and inspired a double amputee called Sandile to take part in the largest ultra-marathon in the world.

We set Sandile up on Twitter (@PhambiliSandile) and asked people to Tweet him words of encouragement using #GoSandile. When someone Tweeted him, an automated video message from Sandile thanked them, and then encouraged them to make a donation to Jumping Kids, to help other children in need of prosthetics.

These messages motivated him during his rehabilitation, and soon, he went from walking, to running.

The thousands of messages were then used to create a physical 1.8km running track at the Comrades Marathon – The Nedbank Green Mile – inspiring him every step of the way.

As Sandile ran over each message, another automated Tweet was sent to the supporter, letting them know just how far Sandile had run.

Sandile’s story made it onto all local news channels and reached more than 25 million people online with Tweets of support coming in from as far as Ireland, the Netherlands and the UAE.

Sandile finished 8 minutes faster than predicted and dominated the #Comrades2016 conversations.

#GoSandile received 63 022 Social Media engagements and the video had 47 969 views on YouTube. 3487 unique #GoSandile Tweets were used to create the Nedbank Green Mile – which means he received 3487 unique messages that encouraged him, every step of the way.

With 83% positive sentiment, not only did Sandile raise money for other kids in need, but he showed South Africans just how powerful their support can be. In just 6 months, Sandile went from being a 17-year old boy bound to a wheelchair, to a double amputee who ran a mile.