Jonathan Rivera Races Past Anorexia

By: Kevin Modeszto I Published: January 12, 2026

It was an ordinary day for the Kean track team. Coach Danielle Todman called her runners in for a meeting. What came out of her mouth shook the entire team. 

Jonathan “Jon” Rivera, one of the “darkhorse” freshmen on the team, had been admitted to the hospital due to anorexia. The news Todman gave sucked the air out of the room. 

“That was similar to me delivering some news I had to deliver in the military,” Todman said, “I never want to see that face (or) those reactions again.” 

Rivera had low expectations for his rookie season, but shattered them. The highlight of it was when Rivera went to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and saw his record of running a 33-minute 8K turn into a record of 28:05.  

Rivera is a 19-year-old sophomore at Kean. He was born and raised in Fords and his major is exercise science. He had been having an impressive rookie season; he even won the New Jersey Athletic Conference’s (NJAC) rookie of the week (9/23-9/30). But all of that was seemingly gone in an instant. 

“I love the passion and the hustle and bustle of running,” Rivera said, “I love to compete.”  

Due to how busy he was, Rivera picked up the habit of saying he’ll eat later. But later never seemed to come. He began to look in the mirror and began wanting a “certain body type”. As time went on, he thought he was looking better and better and better, but he was actually closer and closer and closer to dying.  

On February 17th, Rivera went to the hospital for a routine evaluation, “a quick little thing”. 

“February 17th, the worst day of my life,” Rivera said, “that’s when I lost everything.” 

The hospital examined him and realized that he had severe anorexia and a low heart rate. He could have had a heart attack and died in the middle of a run if we went for one. Rivera and his mom bawled their eyes out when Rivera found out he had to be admitted to the hospital. Rivera was then put on a strict diet to renourish him.  

“I was sedentary for those next two months,” Rivera said.  

The news of Rivera’s hospitalization hit the entire Kean community. Fellow sophomore Victor Dos Santos, who has been running with Rivera since high school, felt it the most. 

“It’s such a blur,” Dos Santos said, “one of my best friends not being in the right place…hearing that he had an eating disorder was very concerning to me.” 

Dos Santos, like Todman, had to break the news to people. This time, Rivera’s core group of friends. He put on the “strong face” for his friend group and his team, but was thinking about it a lot and was “really scared”  

Once Rivera survived hospitalization, he found out his journey to recovery was not over. Rivera was ushered into his indefinite new home. He walked into the rehab center and saw a small room. All he had was a bed, a journal, and a pencil. No phone, no communication with his parents, girlfriend, or friends, nothing. The doors were shut, the windows were barred, and everything had an alarm system. 

“They took everything away from me,” Rivera said, no one could last in there.” 

Rivera, the only male in the facility for anorexia, was monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Everything he ate was logged by the nurses. During what little time he had, he would write in his journal, sleep, or wait for his next therapy session.  

“I couldn’t go to the bathroom in peace,” Rivera said, “I had to be supervised.” 

This was Rivera’s life for three weeks.  

When he finally recovered, Rivera was allowed to go home. He was ecstatic to see his parents again. While recovering, Rivera was always indoors. Everything flashed before his eyes as soon as he walked outside. 

“It felt good being back, but I was so upset about what happened,” Rivera said. 

Rivera’s parents surprised him by having his (now ex) girlfriend come to his house. 

“I saw her and I gave her the biggest hug,” Rivera said, “and it was like the rainbow came out of the clouds…My world made sense again.” 

Rivera’s first day home was a success, but then came returning to running. When Rivera tried running again, he was exhausted after one mile. A greater joy came when Rivera returned to the cross-country team. 

“He came to surprise me,” Todman said, “…my door was open to my office and he just walks in and I was like…holy shit.” 

Todman texted the captains saying she had something to tell them. When they saw Rivera they were all excited and hung out with him all afternoon. The team was Rivera’s second family, Todman was his second mother, and he never felt it more than that day.  

“It’s amazing how much everyone missed me,” Rivera said. 

Now, Rivera is back running cross country. His return season may not have been perfect, but being back was perfect enough for Rivera to look back on it with pride.  

“You have to take care of yourself,” Rivera said, “take it from me, it’s better to be healthy than neglect yourself.” 

There is still room to improve as he transitions from cross country to track, but one thing has changed for the better. Rivera is healthier, happier, and working harder than ever.  

“Night and day difference,” Todman said, “he’s a whole different man.”