MIDDLETOWN, N.J. – School officials didn’t think Jillian Milton could safely compete in cross country because the blind middle school student requested an exemption from gym class, but they were sadly mistaken.

Minutes before the Thompson Middle School seventh-grader took to the course for a 1.5 mile race Wednesday in defiance of the district’s ban on competing, school officials changed their mind, and approved her to run, NJ.com reports.

Officials in the Middletown school district didn’t respond the media inquiries about the ban, but the news site reports the school principal told Magaly Milton, Jillian’s mother, that the reversal was based on a letter from the girl’s pediatrician.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“They gave me a confusing answer,” Milton told NJ.com. “They said she could run today but I don’t know if that means she’s back on the team.”

The confusion started when Milton sent a letter to school from her daughter’s doctor asking to be excused from gym class because her disability leaves her vulnerable to a blow to the head, and the student had already been hit with a volleyball in class on at least one occasion.

The middle school student’s disability stems from abnormal blood vessel development in her eyes, and she’s completely blind in one eye and only has about 10 percent of her vision in the other. A blow to the head could render her completely blind, her doctors said.

School officials exempted Milton from gym class, but also prohibited her from running on the cross country team, as school policy doesn’t allow students to be exempted from one but not the other.

Jillian runs cross country with a guide tethered to her that runs lead to prevent the teen from colliding with obstacles or other runners. In defiance of school policy, the Miltons attended Wednesday’s home meet against Matawan Middle School, where her parents passed out neon pink flyers that read “Run Jillian Run” and asked spectators to support their daughter.

Jillian said she planned on running the event whether or not she had official school approval, NJ.com reports.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

“I am running for myself to be fit, but I’m also running for all the disabled kids to show the world,” she told the news site. “I wanted to show them (school officials) that I could do this and they’re not going to stop me.”

District officials likely realized the negative publicity they would endure once Jillian completed the course without incident, and decided to lift the ban, though they framed their decision as one based on new medical evidence from her doctor.

“I’m so glad she is allowed to participate,” Vicki Evans, a mother of Jillian’s teammate, told NJ.com.

“You see a child who’s overcome her challenge and has been successful,” said Dianne Maxwell, another team mother. “We need to support that.”

Unfortunately, not everyone does. Several who heard about Jillian’s running ban thought she would be a hazard to other competitors, Evans said.

“She’s not. Not at all. And the girls are so supportive,” Evans said. “It teaches the other girls how to be compassionate.”

Jillian ran this week’s meet tethered to her aunt and finished her run in a little over 15 minutes – not the most impressive time, but one Jillian said she’s proud of considering she was running with a cold and missed the previous meet because of the ban, NJ.com reports.