Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / Stronger Than You Think: On Resilience & Redefining What's Possible With 2X Paralympic Medalist & Shark Attack Survivor Ali Truwit

Transcript

Stronger Than You Think: On Resilience & Redefining What's Possible With 2X Paralympic Medalist & Shark Attack Survivor Ali Truwit · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

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Speaker 1: The message that we're stronger than we think is for everyone, right,
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Speaker 1: Like we all go through hard times in trauma and hardship,
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Speaker 1: and I think that message that you have more in
0:08
Speaker 1: you is something that I hope everyone sees in our
0:12
Speaker 1: community and feels for themselves too.
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Speaker 2: Hey, Hey, Emily Abodi. Here you are listening to another
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Speaker 2: episode of Hurdle, a podcast featuring the mindset, secrets, and
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Speaker 2: true stories of the most inspiring women in sports and wellness,
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Speaker 2: empowering you to live a healthier, happier, more motivated life
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Speaker 2: and of course, conquer your own hurdles. This week, I
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Speaker 2: am sitting down with Ali Truett. She's a two time
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Speaker 2: Paralympic silver medallist and sharp attack survivor who's turned a
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Speaker 2: senseless tragedy into a powerful mission a hope. Shortly after
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Speaker 2: graduating up from Yale, where she was a competitive swimmer,
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Speaker 2: Ali's life changed forever when she was attacked by a
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Speaker 2: shark on vacation. Thanks to her own incredible strength and
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Speaker 2: the quick actions of her friends, one of whom applied
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Speaker 2: a life saving tourniquet, Ali survived, though she lost her
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Speaker 2: lower leg in the attack. In the episode today, Ali
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Speaker 2: shares her remarkable journey of recovery, from the early days
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Speaker 2: of facing a fear of the water to becoming an
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Speaker 2: American record holder and meddling at the Paris Paralympics. We
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Speaker 2: discuss everything from the power of community and how her
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Speaker 2: support system, including her parents and teammates, helped her navigate
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Speaker 2: the lowest lows, to mindset shifts, and her stronger than
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Speaker 2: You Think philosophy, the origins of her nonprofit and documentary,
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Speaker 2: both dedicated to helping others find their inner strength. Make
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Speaker 2: sure you're following along with Hurdle over on social It's
1:57
Speaker 2: at Hurdle podcast. You can also check out Iheartwoman's Sports
2:00
Speaker 2: over at Iheartwoman's Sports and me over at Emily a Body.
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Speaker 2: Listen to Hurdle with Emily a Body on the iHeartRadio app,
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Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And with that,
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Speaker 2: let's get to it. Let's get to hurdle it. Today,
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Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Ali Truitt. She's a two
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Speaker 2: time Paralympic silver medalist. She's also a shark attack survivor
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Speaker 2: founder of a non prophet that we'll talk about today.
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Speaker 3: Ali Truant, Welcome to Hurdle. How are you. Thank you,
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Speaker 3: I'm good. Thanks for having me.
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Speaker 2: I am very excited to get an update because when
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Speaker 2: we met it was just before you ran the New
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Speaker 2: York City Marathon.
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Speaker 3: Tell me how you're feeling.
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Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it was so fun. We had such
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Speaker 1: a fun time. And you know, I know a lot
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Speaker 1: of people talk about when it goes silent on the bridge,
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Speaker 1: like mile fifteen sixteen, and how that can feel hard. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: And I had read someone say like you said as
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Speaker 1: an opportunity to check in with your and I had
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Speaker 1: this moment where I was like, you just don't get
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Speaker 1: to run twenty six point two miles alongside fourteen or
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Speaker 1: fifteen friends and family like every mile the whole race.
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Speaker 1: And it was a cool moment in the middle of
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Speaker 1: the race to be like, what a gift to be
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Speaker 1: running this alongside so many friends and family doing it
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Speaker 1: step by step with them. So that was so special
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Speaker 1: to have my mom, my dad, so many friends. It
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Speaker 1: was so fun. And you know, you hear a lot
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Speaker 1: like the crowd carries you. I've been to cheer and
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Speaker 1: people say that, yeah, then to run it, you're like,
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Speaker 1: the crowd carries your is so helpful.
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Speaker 3: I was like this is so fun. Oh my goodness.
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Speaker 2: So for those that don't have context, you said running
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Speaker 2: alongside fourteen fifteen people, Yes, not everyone's typical marathon experience,
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Speaker 2: but a very special experience for you.
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Speaker 3: Yes, it was so.
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Speaker 1: I ten days before I lost my lower leg in
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Speaker 1: a shark attack, I had run a marathon with my mom,
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Speaker 1: and so it was this goal kind of living in
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Speaker 1: the back of my mind. I think year one, I
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Speaker 1: felt like I wasn't going to be able to reclaim
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Speaker 1: and then it just felt really hard and painful. Your two,
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Speaker 1: I got access to a prosthetic running blade, and it
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Speaker 1: changed my mindset. So the goal creep back into my mind.
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Speaker 1: I decided I wanted to try to run the marathon,
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Speaker 1: and I did it alongside my mom and my dad
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Speaker 1: and then a lot of my friends, my cousin, my uncle.
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Speaker 1: Two of my friends were two college teammates who were
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Speaker 1: pivotal in saving my life.
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Speaker 3: One of them was in the water with me during
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Speaker 3: the attack.
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Speaker 1: And to do that alongside so many people in your
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Speaker 1: life who truly have been there at the low points,
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Speaker 1: picked you up, been side by side with me this
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Speaker 1: whole recovery, It's something I'm going to look back on
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Speaker 1: for the rest of my life and be like, what
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Speaker 1: a treat to get to do that alongside them, and
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Speaker 1: for all of them to sacrifice, you know, their time
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Speaker 1: and their training to do it too.
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Speaker 2: It's not like you were just like, Hey, does everyone
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Speaker 2: want to meet up on this specific day to do dinner?
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Speaker 2: Because even that these days can be a challenge to
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Speaker 2: rally together totally a bunch of people at the same
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Speaker 2: time in the same place you recommended. No, we're all
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Speaker 2: going to do this extravagant emotional event together. Running a
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Speaker 2: marathon is such an emotional experience within itself. Give me
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Speaker 2: some insight into the feelings you experienced as you looked
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Speaker 2: around and saw your support system going with you step
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Speaker 2: by step.
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Speaker 1: I think every time I think about it, I get
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Speaker 1: chills because it's one of those moments where you're like,
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Speaker 1: I can't believe that this is what's happening right now, that.
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Speaker 3: We're doing this.
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Speaker 1: Like to think back, you know, there were moments during
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Speaker 1: the race where I would think back to those moments
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Speaker 1: right after the attack where I was like, I'm never
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Speaker 1: gonna run again.
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Speaker 3: I love running.
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Speaker 1: I just ran a marathon and it's never happening again.
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Speaker 1: And to be running and think back to that and
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Speaker 1: then kind of almost see my recovery and all the
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Speaker 1: people right next to me who had played such pivotal
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Speaker 1: roles throughout that whole thing to enable me to be
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Speaker 1: in a position where I was running a marathon. It's
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Speaker 1: just like the coolest, coolest thing, and especially you know,
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Speaker 1: cherishing getting to to have done one right before the
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Speaker 1: attack with my mom, lose my leg, and then run
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Speaker 1: another one with her on a prosthetic. I feel like
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Speaker 1: with such a full circle moment for us too. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: and you know, I know what I went through myself
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Speaker 1: was really hard and I can't imagine as a parent
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Speaker 1: how hard that was. So it felt like a really
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Speaker 1: special moment for us as well, that, you know, as
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Speaker 1: I was running alongside her, just reflecting, and of course
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Speaker 1: my dad too.
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Speaker 3: I think that's so special, also so special, so special.
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Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm like, my eyes are wet just thinking
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Speaker 2: about the emotions that go with that. And to your point,
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Speaker 2: it's so beautiful to hear you say I can't imagine
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Speaker 2: what it must have felt like for my parents, despite
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Speaker 2: you also obviously going through.
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Speaker 3: Such a traumatic event.
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Speaker 2: That shows compassion beyond I think anyone's years.
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Speaker 1: Really, you definitely think about I have an incredible support
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Speaker 1: system that I'm so grateful for. That is a big reason,
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Speaker 1: you know, I was so excited to get out there
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Speaker 1: and pass that support on and pay it forward. But
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Speaker 1: you definitely think about, or I do, the toll that
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Speaker 1: it takes on them to be that emotional support and
7:04
Speaker 1: helped me through this. So I think it was a
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Speaker 1: great moment for all of us just to celebrate what
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Speaker 1: we had all overcome, my friends, my family, my whole community.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, and you mentioned two of your good friends, Sophie
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Speaker 2: and Hannah that ran the marathon with you. Sophie was
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Speaker 2: with you when you were attacked by the shark. For
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Speaker 2: those that are not familiar with your story, give us
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Speaker 2: a little bit of insight into what happened.
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Speaker 3: On that day. Yeah.
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Speaker 1: So, two days after my college graduation a little bit
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Speaker 1: over two years ago, I was on a celebratory trip
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Speaker 1: with my friend Sophie, who was the captain of my
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Speaker 1: college swim team my freshman year, and we were snorkeling
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Speaker 1: in a very common shallow snorkeling reef. Seemingly out of nowhere,
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Speaker 1: a shark appeared and started attacking us. We fought back,
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Speaker 1: but pretty quickly it got my leg in its mouth,
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Speaker 1: and the next thing I knew, it had bitten off
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Speaker 1: my foot, part of my leg. I was bleeding out
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Speaker 1: in the water, and we screamed for help, but no
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Speaker 1: help came. So Sophie and I made this second decision
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Speaker 1: to swim for our lives back to the boat, which
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Speaker 1: was seventy five yards away in the open ocean, with
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Speaker 1: the shark chasing us.
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Speaker 3: And I was footless.
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Speaker 1: And bleeding, and immediately on the boat, Sophie as the
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Speaker 1: captain for a tourniquet and applied it to my leg
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Speaker 1: to save my life. And I will be forever indebted
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Speaker 1: to her. I am in awe of you know. It's
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Speaker 1: one thing to have that medical knowledge and the skill
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Speaker 1: to apply a tournique. It's another to do that after
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Speaker 1: having just been attacked yourself and staring at your footless,
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Speaker 1: bleeding best friend. It's beyond the level of knowing it
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Speaker 1: from a doctor's side, but also from someone who just
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Speaker 1: has unimaginable strength and selflessness and courage. And I just
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Speaker 1: look up to her in so many ways. So it
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Speaker 1: was again running alongside her, such a moment for us,
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Speaker 1: you know, She was the first person, along with the
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Speaker 1: first responder, who witnessed that doubt in me that I
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Speaker 1: was never going to be able to run again, and
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Speaker 1: so just so healing for us. And then I was
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Speaker 1: airlifted to a trauma hospital in Miami, and coincidentally, Sophie
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Speaker 1: and my friend Hannah, who was also on my college
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Speaker 1: swim team, was in medical school rotations at that exact
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Speaker 1: trauma hospital.
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Speaker 2: That is beyond Yeah, like that to me is truly
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Speaker 2: call it fate. Maybe if you're a spiritual person, like
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Speaker 2: that is someone's looking out for you.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what you know.
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Speaker 1: It's easy to look at my journey and what happened
9:40
Speaker 1: to me and kind of wallow in the negativity of
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Speaker 1: it and the y me and all the things that
9:45
Speaker 1: went wrong for me, And I definitely fall into that
9:49
Speaker 1: and have fallen into that. It's I would be lying
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Speaker 1: if I said I didn't have some of those thoughts.
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Speaker 1: But I work really hard to also recenter myself on
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Speaker 1: all the things that went right, all the things I'm
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Speaker 1: lucky for in that story that kept me alt I've
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Speaker 1: here today, And having Sophie and Hannah in those moments,
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Speaker 1: in those places is something that's like just the hugest
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Speaker 1: miracle that I really focused on in those early days
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Speaker 1: of grief and pain, to be like, how lucky am
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Speaker 1: I that they saved my life, that they were in
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Speaker 1: those places in those moments. So Hannah ran it with
10:18
Speaker 1: us too, and that was so so fun, so special.
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Speaker 3: They're incredible.
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Speaker 1: They're both juggling medical school rotations and residency and amidst
10:27
Speaker 1: all that training for a marathon.
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Speaker 3: So wow, it was awesome.
10:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely wild, that perspective of look at all that
10:35
Speaker 2: went right when also simultaneously so much is going wrong.
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Speaker 2: Have you always been able to approach things in that
10:42
Speaker 2: way or is that mindset shift something that you've had
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Speaker 2: to learn over time.
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Speaker 1: I think a lot of what's helped me through the
10:49
Speaker 1: past two years recovering from a shark attack and an
10:51
Speaker 1: amputation our habits that I have set in place my
10:54
Speaker 1: whole life, And it's something I'm so grateful for because
10:57
Speaker 1: you don't know when you're going to need to call
10:59
Speaker 1: on them, and obviously it's never too late to start,
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Speaker 1: but to have that put in place of these are
11:05
Speaker 1: habits I've practiced for years and years and years that
11:08
Speaker 1: I'm now going to turn to was really helpful and
11:11
Speaker 1: so growing up, my mom is a cognitive behavioral therapist,
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Speaker 1: and growing up she encouraged me and my three brothers.
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Speaker 1: It's natural to feel like you want to sit in
11:24
Speaker 1: certain situations that go wrong and say why me? Why
11:26
Speaker 1: did this happen to me? And she was like, if
11:29
Speaker 1: you ask why me, do it? Ask it, but make
11:32
Speaker 1: sure you're asking it in both directions.
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Speaker 3: So why me? Why'd I get attacked by a shark?
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Speaker 1: Why did I lose my leg at twenty three years
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Speaker 1: old enough to be an amputee for the rest of
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Speaker 1: my life?
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Speaker 3: Why me? But also why me?
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Speaker 1: Why did I get to stay calm and have the
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Speaker 1: inner strength and the swimming skill to save my life?
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Speaker 1: Why did I have friends and family who rallied behind
11:52
Speaker 1: me like no other and showed up in unimaginable ways?
11:55
Speaker 1: Why did I never get to worry about food on
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Speaker 1: the table?
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Speaker 3: Right like a million? Why me?
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Speaker 1: In the positive direction? And so that habit I think,
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Speaker 1: in that moment where it was so easy to sit
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Speaker 1: there and say why me? Was this this habit I
12:09
Speaker 1: called on to say, let's also think about all the
12:11
Speaker 1: things that went right for me.
12:12
Speaker 3: In that moment? Yeah?
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Speaker 2: Wow, again, such a beautiful and impressive perspective, something that
12:19
Speaker 2: so many can learn from. Now I know that you
12:23
Speaker 2: are actively and very passionate about paying it forward. Now,
12:28
Speaker 2: all of these difficult experiences that you've been through came
12:32
Speaker 2: full circle for you to create your nonprofit. Talk to
12:36
Speaker 2: me a little bit about your nonprofit and why it's
12:39
Speaker 2: so important to you.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you.
12:41
Speaker 1: I think early on I knew that all the support
12:44
Speaker 1: I was receiving was something I was so lucky for,
12:47
Speaker 1: and it was a complete game changer for me, like
12:49
Speaker 1: a total difference maker in my recovery, and I really
12:52
Speaker 1: couldn't wait until I could pay it forward. I think
12:54
Speaker 1: joining the amputee community, I was shocked at how expensive
12:58
Speaker 1: prosthetics are, littles covered by insurance relative to what's needed,
13:03
Speaker 1: you know, I was learning that prosthetics can range from
13:05
Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars to over one hundred thousand dollars. It
13:08
Speaker 1: felt like life as an amputee was hard enough as is,
13:11
Speaker 1: that we shouldn't also have to be concerned with at
13:13
Speaker 1: a ford a part of our body that we need
13:15
Speaker 1: just to live. So I wanted to do something about it,
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Speaker 1: and I founded my nonprofit. Stronger than you think it
13:21
Speaker 1: supports the three pillars I say that saved my life
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Speaker 1: and helped me rebuild it. So that's water safety, the
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Speaker 1: Paralympic movement, and funding for prosthetics for women and girls.
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Speaker 1: And it truly is just a hug to my heart
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Speaker 1: to be able to do this work. It's so healing
13:35
Speaker 1: to say I can take this bad, senseless trauma that
13:38
Speaker 1: happened to me and use it for good. And it's
13:41
Speaker 1: been really exciting to have the impact that we've had
13:43
Speaker 1: to date we've been able to give fifteen prosthetics, but
13:46
Speaker 1: it's also very motivating to continue doing everything I can
13:50
Speaker 1: to continue having impact there. And I think one of
13:53
Speaker 1: my favorite things too is, you know, financially it's important
13:57
Speaker 1: to have that impact and it's a focus of mine,
13:59
Speaker 1: but so focused on the support and the community and
14:02
Speaker 1: the friendship that's coming out of this nonprofit. And that's
14:06
Speaker 1: with our recipients, and that's with our supporters and our followers,
14:09
Speaker 1: and whether you fall into those three pillars or not,
14:13
Speaker 1: the message that we're stronger than we think is for everyone, right,
14:16
Speaker 1: Like we all go through hard times in trauma and hardship,
14:19
Speaker 1: and I think that message that you have more in
14:21
Speaker 1: you is something that I hope everyone sees in our
14:25
Speaker 1: community and feels for themselves too.
14:27
Speaker 3: Where did the name come from?
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Speaker 1: It's honestly one of my biggest learnings from the two years.
14:32
Speaker 1: We are so much stronger than we think. We have
14:34
Speaker 1: way more in us than we might think we do. Yeah,
14:36
Speaker 1: And I learned that for myself, Like, if you had
14:38
Speaker 1: asked me out these two years were go. That was
14:40
Speaker 1: never what I would have predicted. And you know, I
14:43
Speaker 1: remember in I think I was in high school, I
14:46
Speaker 1: heard David Goggins, you know, David gosh days. He had
14:50
Speaker 1: said that we're all only operating at forty percent of
14:53
Speaker 1: our human capacity, our potential. And I think when I
14:56
Speaker 1: first heard that in high school or whatever it was,
14:58
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, maybe, like you, I didn't totally
15:01
Speaker 1: believe it. Yeah, And these past two years, I'm like,
15:03
Speaker 1: he's right, Like, we have so much more in us.
15:06
Speaker 1: We're just sitting on these wells of capacity, and if
15:09
Speaker 1: we can open our minds to that and believe it
15:11
Speaker 1: even just a little bit, we will surprise ourselves with
15:13
Speaker 1: what we overcome, with what we can achieve physically.
15:16
Speaker 3: So the name really is that.
15:18
Speaker 1: Big learning that I learned that I hope to spread
15:20
Speaker 1: to everyone who learns my story or about the nonprofit.
15:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's also the name of your documentary.
15:27
Speaker 3: I want to talk to you.
15:29
Speaker 2: A bit about that experience from the get go. So
15:35
Speaker 2: when did you solidify that this was a project that
15:38
Speaker 2: you were going to work on.
15:40
Speaker 1: So basically, the documentary, which is also called Starting Than
15:43
Speaker 1: You Think, chronicles kind of my journey from shark attack
15:47
Speaker 1: and amputation.
15:48
Speaker 3: To the Paris Paralympics a year later.
15:50
Speaker 1: So it is that first year of navigating life as
15:53
Speaker 1: an amputee, adjusting learning, facing setbacks, and also at the
15:57
Speaker 1: same time trying to get back in the water and
15:59
Speaker 1: train for the parent Olympics. We worked with an all
16:01
Speaker 1: female crew. They are incredible and just so amazing at
16:06
Speaker 1: really hearing my goals in sharing my story and having
16:10
Speaker 1: that come to life in this documentary. So I'm really excited.
16:13
Speaker 1: It's been premiering in some film festivals, which has been
16:17
Speaker 1: so fun. And to continue spreading that message of hope,
16:20
Speaker 1: to shine a light on the Paralympic movement and the
16:22
Speaker 1: fact that we can bounce back after life knocks us down,
16:26
Speaker 1: it's really meaningful for me.
16:44
Speaker 2: How did it feel to go through the process of
16:47
Speaker 2: having people join in so regularly to learn about you,
16:52
Speaker 2: to learn about your story. Were there things that you
16:54
Speaker 2: didn't expect, things that really brought you joy.
16:57
Speaker 1: When they come and film you definitely know those you
16:59
Speaker 1: can't there, but you do. I've heard people say you
17:03
Speaker 1: forget the cameras there and you kind of do, so
17:06
Speaker 1: that part I had heard.
17:07
Speaker 3: And I didn't.
17:08
Speaker 1: I every time I hear that, I'm like, no, way,
17:09
Speaker 1: like you see a camera there. But but I think
17:12
Speaker 1: as especially just in such an emotional hard year, I
17:15
Speaker 1: had so many things to focus on that I did
17:17
Speaker 1: kind of sometimes forget that we are being filmed, and
17:21
Speaker 1: and I think that's nice, because I really my goal was,
17:25
Speaker 1: if I'm sharing my journey, I do want to make
17:27
Speaker 1: sure I'm sharing those highs and the shiny fun moments
17:30
Speaker 1: to show you know, what you can go back get
17:32
Speaker 1: back to after such a dramatic or heart event, but
17:36
Speaker 1: at the same time to show the low moments, to
17:38
Speaker 1: be authentic about that journey. And if someone finds themselves
17:41
Speaker 1: crying on a couch just like I did several times,
17:44
Speaker 1: that doesn't rule out the possibility of making it to
17:46
Speaker 1: the Paralympic podium. A few months later or whatever that
17:49
Speaker 1: equivalent is for someone, and so.
17:51
Speaker 3: So I'm grateful that that's how that played out.
17:54
Speaker 1: I think it was you know, they were so great
17:57
Speaker 1: to be around, so it really was fun and it
18:01
Speaker 1: was such a cool moment just to shine a light
18:03
Speaker 1: on so many things I was focused on. I think
18:05
Speaker 1: in the day to day of the filming, that's not
18:07
Speaker 1: necessarily what you're thinking about. You're just letting someone film
18:09
Speaker 1: your life, and it was fun to kind of see
18:12
Speaker 1: that process of how that all comes together and to
18:14
Speaker 1: learn more. You know, you film for so many hours
18:16
Speaker 1: and a lot of it gets cut, just the nature of.
18:19
Speaker 3: It, and so that was cool to learn about too.
18:22
Speaker 2: You said that, you know, the last couple of years
18:25
Speaker 2: involved a lot of things that you could have never anticipated.
18:28
Speaker 2: There has to be also a grief that goes along
18:32
Speaker 2: with that. There's this really beautiful opportunity and perspective that
18:36
Speaker 2: you vocalize that you've been able to obtain, which is, wow,
18:39
Speaker 2: look how beautiful this can be.
18:41
Speaker 3: And also you never thought you would be doing this.
18:45
Speaker 2: Talk to me a little bit about what that grieving
18:47
Speaker 2: process looks like for you.
18:49
Speaker 1: I think grief is something that you know will live
18:53
Speaker 1: with me forever. I don't think you grieve and you
18:56
Speaker 1: heal and it's done. And I've learned that through this
19:01
Speaker 1: traumatic event, and it's taught me to have grace with
19:05
Speaker 1: myself to know that grief comes in waves and can
19:07
Speaker 1: appear at the craziest times where you wouldn't even expect it.
19:11
Speaker 1: The smallest things can kind of cause grief and bring
19:14
Speaker 1: it back up, and so the grieving process for me
19:18
Speaker 1: hasn't continues to be a bumpy road, and I think
19:22
Speaker 1: just understanding that being a little bit softer with myself
19:26
Speaker 1: and gentler of knowing that it can come at any time,
19:29
Speaker 1: knowing that it's okay to grief and take that moment
19:32
Speaker 1: and feel sad. Something for me that that doesn't really
19:35
Speaker 1: work is just moving immediately into kind of the positive
19:39
Speaker 1: reset a. I call it permission to feel, an intention
19:43
Speaker 1: to reset. And so first for me, like grief, feel
19:47
Speaker 1: feel sad, feel upset, let yourself think those thoughts, just
19:50
Speaker 1: don't stay there, then press the reset button and get
19:53
Speaker 1: back up. That's been really helpful for me. But there
19:56
Speaker 1: have been so many moments where the smallest things even
19:59
Speaker 1: like and I think it's important, right, Like I was
20:02
Speaker 1: so proud, so excited to run a marathon on a
20:05
Speaker 1: prosthetic blade. I can't believe that's what I just got
20:07
Speaker 1: to do and what I was able to do. And
20:09
Speaker 1: at the same time, there were several times in there
20:12
Speaker 1: where I did grieve what it used to feel like
20:14
Speaker 1: to run on two feet, how freeing it was, how
20:17
Speaker 1: easy compared to running on a prosthetic blade it was.
20:20
Speaker 1: You know, those challenges bring up that grief of like
20:23
Speaker 1: what that used to feel like, And that happens all
20:25
Speaker 1: the time. Yeah, so I think it's something that lives
20:29
Speaker 1: with you forever. And at times it's tightened and at
20:33
Speaker 1: times it's not. For me, it's really been learning, like
20:36
Speaker 1: they go hand in hand. It's not just because you're
20:38
Speaker 1: feeling one way you can't feel another. My mom calls
20:43
Speaker 1: it holding the dialectic to two opposite feelings can be
20:46
Speaker 1: true at the same time.
20:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot happening simultaneously. When was the last time
20:54
Speaker 2: that it almost unexpectedly hit you? You said it can be
20:58
Speaker 2: triggered by like very small all moments.
21:02
Speaker 1: I've had so many, I think I don't know, I've
21:05
Speaker 1: probably a recent one. I mean to be honest, like
21:07
Speaker 1: sometimes even I'll be like scrolling Instagram and just even
21:10
Speaker 1: like watching someone's like day in the life of like
21:12
Speaker 1: getting to throw on their running sneakers and shorts and
21:14
Speaker 1: go out, and then getting to throw on cute heels
21:15
Speaker 1: and go out, and like watching that that's like no
21:18
Speaker 1: longer how that looks like for me when it used
21:21
Speaker 1: to be And I don't even know what was something
21:22
Speaker 1: I was supposed to be grateful for, right like, oh,
21:24
Speaker 1: just throwing on my shoes with something I was supposed
21:26
Speaker 1: to be like, thank gosh, I can do this, And
21:28
Speaker 1: now it's like I have to adjust a prosthetic ankle
21:31
Speaker 1: to fit the arch height, right Like there's all these
21:33
Speaker 1: things that I think. The other day, I was trying
21:35
Speaker 1: to put on tights because it's cold out, and dressing
21:39
Speaker 1: over a prosthetic leg is like have you ever put
21:41
Speaker 1: clothes on a Barbie doll and it gets all stuck
21:42
Speaker 1: on the like and getting frustrated there. Then I'm like
21:45
Speaker 1: this used to never be something, and now for the
21:46
Speaker 1: rest of my life, if I want to wear tights,
21:48
Speaker 1: but I have to wrestle, and it seems so small, right, like, Okay,
21:51
Speaker 1: don't wear tights, or take some time and put your
21:53
Speaker 1: tights on. But but it brings up that larger feeling
21:57
Speaker 1: of like life is different now.
21:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, And that's not to say I'm gonna figure it out.
22:01
Speaker 1: I'm to learn it and and maybe that's kind of
22:03
Speaker 1: a small problem relative and I'm alive and I'm so
22:05
Speaker 1: lucky for that. But also I can grieve things that
22:08
Speaker 1: used to be simple, things that used to be easy,
22:10
Speaker 1: the way my life used to look. So so I
22:13
Speaker 1: think even those small things you never expect, right, like
22:15
Speaker 1: getting dressed to go out, and I'm yeah, yeah.
22:18
Speaker 2: Entirely understandable, Like as as someone that does have two legs,
22:22
Speaker 2: I get frustrated putting on tights. I can't even I
22:25
Speaker 2: cannot even imagine. It's such an understandable place to be
22:29
Speaker 2: coming from. Now, you also in this the last two
22:33
Speaker 2: years were nothing like I expected. I mean, you definitely
22:36
Speaker 2: didn't think about becoming a Paralympian or an olympian when
22:39
Speaker 2: you were graduating college. Talk to me about getting back
22:43
Speaker 2: in the water. And when that transformed from I'm just
22:47
Speaker 2: going to face this fear to I'm going to take
22:50
Speaker 2: this to another level.
22:52
Speaker 1: I think pretty early on in my recovery, I realized
22:58
Speaker 1: that I was feeling fearful of the water, and the
23:00
Speaker 1: water is something I have loved my whole life. I've
23:03
Speaker 1: been a competitive swimmer to some degree since I was
23:05
Speaker 1: seven years old. I find so much dooy and peace
23:09
Speaker 1: in the water, and it's been a safe and happy
23:12
Speaker 1: place for me forever. And after the attack, after being
23:16
Speaker 1: conscious in the ocean for the attack, I was really
23:21
Speaker 1: scared of the water and like I would go to
23:23
Speaker 1: take a shower and the sound of the water would
23:25
Speaker 1: trigger a flashback wow, and I felt really upset, Like
23:28
Speaker 1: I was like, this is something I've loved forever that
23:30
Speaker 1: now I've lost too. And I had this moment where
23:34
Speaker 1: I was like, some things that I've lost here I'm
23:37
Speaker 1: not getting back, Like I'm not getting my foot back,
23:39
Speaker 1: but there are some things that I can fight to
23:41
Speaker 1: get back. And if it's on the table for me
23:44
Speaker 1: to fight for, I'm going to fight for it. And
23:46
Speaker 1: I decided I was starting with the water, and I
23:49
Speaker 1: got back in our backyard pool and I got back
23:52
Speaker 1: in in with a floaty around my waist as a
23:55
Speaker 1: Division one college swarmer, because we weren't sure, like physically
23:57
Speaker 1: or emotionally, how I was going to respond, and it
24:00
Speaker 1: was this really kind of like exposure therapy progression where
24:03
Speaker 1: I put a toe in, then I put my ankle.
24:05
Speaker 3: It like kind of built up to it.
24:07
Speaker 1: But I think those early days were really working, like
24:09
Speaker 1: you said, to face that fear, to show myself it
24:12
Speaker 1: was something I could reclaim. I would get these like
24:14
Speaker 1: moments where things felt good again in the water, and
24:16
Speaker 1: I would cling to them and be like, if I
24:18
Speaker 1: can just keep doing this.
24:19
Speaker 3: It'll build, it'll grow.
24:21
Speaker 1: And I had actually had Noah Lambert, who's a Paralympic
24:26
Speaker 1: check and feal.
24:26
Speaker 3: That's she's a hurdler too. Amazing.
24:29
Speaker 1: She reached out about a month in to be supportive
24:33
Speaker 1: and had said one thing she said to me, and
24:36
Speaker 1: the call was considered the Paralympics, it's really healing you.
24:40
Speaker 1: I think would really enjoy it, like just think about it.
24:42
Speaker 1: And when I first heard her, I was like, Okay, no,
24:44
Speaker 1: why they're in eleven months, Like there's no way a
24:46
Speaker 1: month into a shark attack and amputation. So appreciated the
24:50
Speaker 1: support and the call, but I was like that part,
24:52
Speaker 1: like I'm just that's not going to be where I'm at.
24:55
Speaker 3: And as I kind of kept swimming and did it
24:58
Speaker 3: more and.
24:58
Speaker 1: More also for physical therapy because that was waiting for
25:00
Speaker 1: a prosthetic leg. I started to have the idea creep
25:03
Speaker 1: in like hey, what if I could do that? What
25:05
Speaker 1: if I could pull that off? And that was really
25:07
Speaker 1: exciting to me. I always have like what if I fail?
25:10
Speaker 1: What if I don't do well? What if this goes wrong?
25:12
Speaker 1: To have the like what if in nine months I
25:14
Speaker 1: could train and qualify for TMUSA for the Paris Paralympics.
25:19
Speaker 1: Was this like hugely positive, exciting what if that? I
25:21
Speaker 1: was like, should I just lean into that and go
25:23
Speaker 1: for it? And I think, you know, even though it
25:26
Speaker 1: seemed like such a small chance and I knew it
25:30
Speaker 1: was going to be pulling a rabbit out of a
25:31
Speaker 1: hat to try to do it, the opportunity to represent
25:34
Speaker 1: your country at that level like is so cool and
25:39
Speaker 1: so special. So that's when I was like, Okay, I
25:41
Speaker 1: think I'm going to go for it and start training.
25:44
Speaker 1: And at that point I had nine months to really
25:46
Speaker 1: get back and shape in the water and start getting
25:49
Speaker 1: some cardio based back and then start learning how to
25:51
Speaker 1: swim with one leg instead of two and swimming to
25:54
Speaker 1: a level that would enable me to qualify.
25:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean spoiler alert, we didn't just qualify,
26:01
Speaker 2: then we meddled, and now you're an American record holder. Yes,
26:05
Speaker 2: which is so special, all of it, not just taking
26:09
Speaker 2: into account the mental gymnastics that had to go hand
26:12
Speaker 2: in hand with getting back in the water, but to
26:15
Speaker 2: now swim faster than you did when you had two legs.
26:19
Speaker 3: When I say that to you, how does it make
26:21
Speaker 3: you feel? I feel really proud of that.
26:24
Speaker 1: I know the work that it took to get there,
26:26
Speaker 1: as you said, emotionally and physically. I think, you know,
26:29
Speaker 1: it's a message to myself of what is possible for
26:33
Speaker 1: me in this new body. I think at the start,
26:36
Speaker 1: naturally you have a lot of fears, a lot of worries,
26:37
Speaker 1: and to be in a place where I'm swimming faster
26:39
Speaker 1: than I ever swam in certain events with two legs
26:43
Speaker 1: is a message to myself of what is still possible,
26:46
Speaker 1: and I hope it's a message to other people watching too.
26:49
Speaker 1: I think, you know, a big goal for a lot
26:51
Speaker 1: of Paralympians is changing the perception of disability that the
26:55
Speaker 1: people hold, and I think being able to say that
26:58
Speaker 1: with one leg I'm swimming faster at the Paralympics than
27:01
Speaker 1: I did with two legs is hopefully spreading that message
27:05
Speaker 1: and showing that. And you know, I talk a lot
27:07
Speaker 1: about for me to make and metal at the Paralympics,
27:10
Speaker 1: I needed to swim times that I had swum to
27:13
Speaker 1: get recruited Division one to you with two legs, but
27:16
Speaker 1: with one.
27:17
Speaker 3: And it's really fast and competitive.
27:20
Speaker 1: And I think that achievement for me of swimming even
27:23
Speaker 1: faster was in line with what I had learned there
27:26
Speaker 1: and that message too.
27:28
Speaker 2: I also really love the perspective of what if the
27:34
Speaker 2: best thing happens, what if it's better than I imagined.
27:38
Speaker 2: I texted a girlfriend earlier today and I said, what's
27:42
Speaker 2: something that you want to happen by the end of
27:43
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six that feels so much bigger than you?
27:48
Speaker 2: And sometimes it is as simple as putting it out
27:53
Speaker 2: into the universe and saying why not me? It is
27:57
Speaker 2: just as likely that things can go better than you
27:59
Speaker 2: expect than it is that they might not go well
28:02
Speaker 2: at all. And we are constantly trapped in this grief
28:07
Speaker 2: and shame spiral and this comparison moment right that we
28:11
Speaker 2: don't allow ourselves the opportunity to dream. So when you
28:15
Speaker 2: think now about what if it's even better than I anticipated?
28:20
Speaker 2: And you think forward what comes to mind for you?
28:25
Speaker 1: You know, I think also, just like on what you
28:27
Speaker 1: just said, for me, it takes work to get yourself
28:32
Speaker 1: to that other headspace. It's not just something that kind of,
28:36
Speaker 1: at least for me, happens right like the other side
28:38
Speaker 1: of it happens all the time.
28:39
Speaker 3: What if this doesn't go well? What if I fail read?
28:41
Speaker 1: That's natural, That's where my brain naturally gravitates. And it
28:45
Speaker 1: takes a lot of practice, yeah, to get yourself into
28:48
Speaker 1: that other headspace of just saying like, let me create
28:50
Speaker 1: space for the other side of this. Let me focus
28:54
Speaker 1: on the way that I'm talking to myself about myself
28:58
Speaker 1: to open up those possibilities and the belief in those possibilities.
29:01
Speaker 1: So it is something that I work at and just
29:04
Speaker 1: noticing the way that I'm talking to myself every day
29:07
Speaker 1: and now as I think ahead, it really has helped me.
29:11
Speaker 1: I think I've always been someone who sets big, bold
29:13
Speaker 1: goals and knows that sometimes I'm not going to get them.
29:15
Speaker 1: No one likes not getting them, but also teaches me
29:17
Speaker 1: I'll get back up and work again. But I think
29:19
Speaker 1: as I look ahead to LA twenty twenty eight with
29:22
Speaker 1: the home games, as I look ahead to growing my nonprofit,
29:25
Speaker 1: continuing to have as much impact as I can there,
29:28
Speaker 1: as I think ahead to how much healing I am
29:31
Speaker 1: finding in the advocacy work and in the representation through
29:34
Speaker 1: things like Sports Illustrated swimsuit or a Nike sponsorship, those
29:38
Speaker 1: are goals for me is to continue really doing everything
29:42
Speaker 1: I can to use any attention my story's getting the
29:45
Speaker 1: journey that I've had to continue spreading, hope, to continue representing,
29:49
Speaker 1: to continue advocating.
29:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, how does a muscle strengthen You give it something
29:54
Speaker 2: to push up against? How does your will strengthen? You
29:58
Speaker 2: give it something to push up against? And that isn't
30:02
Speaker 2: something that you are alone in. I'm in the same place.
30:05
Speaker 2: I don't want to throw out an incorrect statistic, but
30:08
Speaker 2: it's upward of eighty percent of the thoughts that we
30:10
Speaker 2: have every day are negative and it's up to us
30:14
Speaker 2: and an opportunity for each of us to work on
30:17
Speaker 2: strengthening that resiliency muscle.
30:19
Speaker 3: But it's not easy. Yeah, it's not.
30:22
Speaker 2: It's not easy at all that you threw out Nike,
30:25
Speaker 2: you threw out Sports Illustrated.
30:27
Speaker 3: I want to start with Nike.
30:29
Speaker 2: Where were you when you got the call that this
30:32
Speaker 2: was even a conversation that they were interested in having,
30:37
Speaker 2: that you could be a Nike athlete.
30:40
Speaker 1: I was at home, which was really fun because I
30:42
Speaker 1: got to run straight to my mom and like freak out.
30:46
Speaker 2: I think it was an email or a call call okay,
30:49
Speaker 2: And I mean, like I.
30:51
Speaker 3: Feel like so much of that stuff.
30:52
Speaker 1: I'm like, I didn't even dream that, like think of
30:54
Speaker 1: this as a dream because I didn't even think it
30:56
Speaker 1: was possible for myself. So I think that was really
30:59
Speaker 1: really cool and exciting. And also just as I mentioned,
31:02
Speaker 1: like the representation I think coming into the amputee community,
31:06
Speaker 1: coming into the Paralympic community, I want to do everything
31:09
Speaker 1: I can to continue everyone else's efforts, right, Like I
31:13
Speaker 1: stand on the shoulders of giants who have paved the
31:15
Speaker 1: way for so many of us, and there's so much
31:17
Speaker 1: room to still grow to increase that representation, and it matters.
31:21
Speaker 1: And so I think that was such an exciting thing
31:24
Speaker 1: of like, if I could be a Paralympian sponsored by Nike,
31:27
Speaker 1: that is just sending a huge message to continue adding
31:30
Speaker 1: to their insane roster of incredible athletes.
31:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean standing on the shoulders of giants, I
31:36
Speaker 2: don't need to talk to you about Jessica Long. And
31:38
Speaker 2: then as a Nike athlete Scout Bassett, have you had
31:41
Speaker 2: the opportunity and interact with Scout?
31:43
Speaker 1: Yes, Oh yeah, she's a jem amazing, amazing, Yeah, such
31:47
Speaker 1: a gem.
31:48
Speaker 2: So then to double click on Sports Illustrated, talk to
31:51
Speaker 2: me about where you were when you got the Sports
31:54
Speaker 2: Illustrated call, and then talk to me about how it
31:56
Speaker 2: felt to pose for Sports Illustrated.
31:59
Speaker 3: When I out the.
32:00
Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated call, I was coming back. I had come
32:03
Speaker 1: back from I think I had come back from the Paralympics,
32:07
Speaker 1: and I actually had like a vacation planned with my mom.
32:10
Speaker 1: So I was like, okay, well I'm be in Italy
32:12
Speaker 1: the week before. But I was again like freaking Now.
32:16
Speaker 1: I think being in a bathing suit is more comfortable
32:20
Speaker 1: for me as a lifelong swimmer than probably most I
32:24
Speaker 1: don't know, but I'm pretty comfortable in a swimsuit.
32:27
Speaker 3: But what was.
32:29
Speaker 1: A completely new thing was being in a bathing suit
32:32
Speaker 1: in a prosthetic leg. Yeah, and that would be you know,
32:36
Speaker 1: a little over a year out from the attack and amputation,
32:40
Speaker 1: and I started in a place where I asked my
32:41
Speaker 1: parents to give away all my short dresses and short
32:43
Speaker 1: skirts and said, I'm never going to wear anything short again.
32:46
Speaker 1: I don't want my prosthetic leg to be seen. So
32:48
Speaker 1: now a year later, to be in a tiny bikini
32:52
Speaker 1: posing for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in my prosthetic leg, that
32:55
Speaker 1: was really anxiety inducing, just that exposure for myself and
32:59
Speaker 1: to was something new and something that had been challenged
33:03
Speaker 1: during my recovery, and so I was definitely nervous. I
33:07
Speaker 1: also had not done modeling, so I didn't have too
33:10
Speaker 1: much information on that.
33:12
Speaker 3: But I was also like, this is the coolest.
33:15
Speaker 1: Thing one to show myself, like the growth that I've had,
33:19
Speaker 1: and I think the Paralympics really expedited my recovery and
33:22
Speaker 1: helped me get to a different place of self acceptance.
33:26
Speaker 1: And then to kind of cap that off with rece Illustrated,
33:29
Speaker 1: to show myself that journey, but also again like to
33:32
Speaker 1: represent I think now after being in that issue and
33:36
Speaker 1: then also getting to walk in Miami Swim Week, the
33:39
Speaker 1: dms and messages that I get from mothers and from
33:42
Speaker 1: the women and girls themselves of what it meant to
33:45
Speaker 1: open the magazine and see someone in a prosthetic or
33:47
Speaker 1: to watch me walk the runway was something I wasn't anticipating,
33:51
Speaker 1: you know, I was hopeful that it would help increase
33:53
Speaker 1: that representation. I believed it mattered. But to get that feedback,
33:56
Speaker 1: You're like, one, I'm so thankful that I could do
34:00
Speaker 1: this and represent in that way, and that's something that
34:02
Speaker 1: is such a gift and so exciting.
34:04
Speaker 3: But two, like, so thankful to sports illustrateds, some.
34:07
Speaker 1: Suit and others like them who prioritize not only recognize
34:10
Speaker 1: the importance of it, but then put the action behind
34:13
Speaker 1: it and prioritize you know, that inclusivity and that representation too.
34:17
Speaker 2: What I'm hearing you say is that the opportunity once
34:20
Speaker 2: again showed you that you are maybe stronger than you think.
34:24
Speaker 2: It gave you that chance to show up in a
34:26
Speaker 2: way that, yes, was uncomfortable and also was an opportunity.
34:31
Speaker 2: You mentioned walking on the runway. Talk to me about
34:34
Speaker 2: walking on the runway. I like, yeah, walk in a
34:37
Speaker 2: straight line if you beat me.
34:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, truly, I was like, all my prosthetic it
34:41
Speaker 1: floats on a pool like the runway, So I was like,
34:44
Speaker 1: this is way out of my comfort zone. But also
34:47
Speaker 1: like the coolest and most exciting thing, and the whole
34:50
Speaker 1: team there is incredible, Like they're all just they make
34:52
Speaker 1: you feel so confident and so comfortable.
34:54
Speaker 3: And that was at my shoot and that was on
34:55
Speaker 3: the runway, so that really really helped.
34:57
Speaker 1: I was like in the fitting also, the fitting is
35:00
Speaker 1: like you walk in there's just like a rainbow collection
35:03
Speaker 1: of all these suits and it's like, so fun.
35:06
Speaker 3: Do you get do you for the record? Do you
35:09
Speaker 3: get to pick the one that you want to wear?
35:11
Speaker 1: So in the shoots, you wear multiple They have stylists
35:14
Speaker 1: who are amazing who pick out ones that they think
35:16
Speaker 1: would look good on you, but you're allowed to like
35:18
Speaker 1: you tried those on in your fitting, but you also
35:20
Speaker 1: can look across. Yeah, so wow, you do get like
35:24
Speaker 1: to see what you feel best in. But it was
35:27
Speaker 1: so fun to meet so many other girls to walk to.
35:31
Speaker 1: My family came, my best friend came, And it was
35:33
Speaker 1: on the two year mark of my amputation, which happened
35:37
Speaker 1: on my twenty third birthday. So then on my twenty
35:40
Speaker 1: fifth birthday to be walking the runway in Miami where
35:43
Speaker 1: I was saved, just again such a full circle moment
35:47
Speaker 1: to kind of take that day back for myself of like, yeah,
35:49
Speaker 1: it was a really traumatic and hard day that changed
35:51
Speaker 1: my life forever. But also now two years later, like
35:54
Speaker 1: I'm representing walking a runway, like it was such a
35:56
Speaker 1: message there that felt really cool and it was really
35:59
Speaker 1: fun and I was really nervous, and then you get
36:01
Speaker 1: out there and you have a lot of fun and
36:03
Speaker 1: I think it's been cool. I had it walking down
36:06
Speaker 1: the shops we say opening ceremonies, and then again on
36:08
Speaker 1: that runway, these moments where I'm like flashing back to
36:11
Speaker 1: learning to walk and feeling like that was such a
36:15
Speaker 1: challenge to overcome, and feeling all the fear and the
36:19
Speaker 1: pain and the worry and the doubt that went into
36:22
Speaker 1: those first steps to then like kind of be like okay,
36:24
Speaker 1: a year and two years later, these are where I'm
36:26
Speaker 1: walking like was a really really cool thing.
36:28
Speaker 2: Also, so many people make an effort to be comfortable
36:52
Speaker 2: after trauma, right, and you chose a high performance sport.
36:59
Speaker 2: So what what would you say is the value in
37:03
Speaker 2: intentionally seeking out discomfort as a way to process, as
37:09
Speaker 2: a way to build this resilience. You're not just swimming,
37:13
Speaker 2: You're running a marathon, you're doing sports illustrated simsuit, you're
37:18
Speaker 2: shooting your first Nike campaign.
37:20
Speaker 3: This is a lot to handle for anyone.
37:23
Speaker 2: Nevertheless, someone who is actively every day waking up and
37:27
Speaker 2: choosing to move through their trauma.
37:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's interesting.
37:32
Speaker 1: I guess I never have really thought about like intentionally
37:34
Speaker 1: seeking discomfort. But I think I have always enjoyed being busy.
37:40
Speaker 1: I have always enjoyed pushing myself to see what's possible.
37:45
Speaker 1: I love the feeling of like going to some practice
37:47
Speaker 1: and working really hard and leaving and being like I'm
37:49
Speaker 1: drying to I have nothing left. Like, I enjoy that.
37:53
Speaker 1: I find so much strength in it. I find confidence
37:55
Speaker 1: in it, I find power in it. And I think
37:58
Speaker 1: coming out of the attack, it was a way to
38:01
Speaker 1: show myself like you still have that that is still
38:03
Speaker 1: a possibility for you in a moment and a season
38:05
Speaker 1: of so much doubt and fear about my future, to
38:09
Speaker 1: be able to make those choices to say, like, these
38:11
Speaker 1: are things you love that you can get back to
38:13
Speaker 1: and are getting back to, I think was more where
38:16
Speaker 1: my head was at. But I do think you know,
38:19
Speaker 1: every choice you make that puts you in an uncomfortable
38:21
Speaker 1: position is something that you're getting through, that you're overcoming.
38:25
Speaker 1: That's a small success that or a big one that
38:27
Speaker 1: builds right, that gives you the confidence to say, Okay,
38:31
Speaker 1: I faced something really hard and I got back up
38:33
Speaker 1: or I got through it, you know.
38:35
Speaker 3: Coupled with that, there.
38:36
Speaker 1: Is I had this concept I feel like maybe before
38:40
Speaker 1: the attack, that I needed to wait until everything was
38:43
Speaker 1: like healed and good to then kind of like move
38:46
Speaker 1: on and help someone else or whatever that looks like,
38:48
Speaker 1: get back up and try again. And I think these
38:51
Speaker 1: past few years has been a learning for me of
38:53
Speaker 1: like I can do all of that in the mess
38:56
Speaker 1: of whatever's happening right now, Like while I'm healing, while
38:59
Speaker 1: I'm learning, will I'm growing, I can give to others.
39:02
Speaker 1: I can push my body and achieve more than I
39:04
Speaker 1: thought possible. And So I think that as I think
39:07
Speaker 1: about like intentionally seeking discomfort, I don't know that that's
39:10
Speaker 1: how my mind thinks about it, but I think the
39:12
Speaker 1: approach of like my life at times is uncomfortable and
39:16
Speaker 1: new and hard, and it's this place that's giving me
39:20
Speaker 1: kind of that confidence, that resilience, that belief that hope
39:23
Speaker 1: through kind of those opportunities, or through pushing myself and
39:27
Speaker 1: swimming or the marathon or whatever.
39:28
Speaker 3: That may be. You're twenty five, you're living in New
39:32
Speaker 3: York City.
39:34
Speaker 2: The things I was doing at twenty five when I
39:36
Speaker 2: was living in New York City are very different than the.
39:38
Speaker 3: Things that you may be doing.
39:40
Speaker 2: Do you feel as though you get to be a
39:42
Speaker 2: twenty five year old girl living in New York City
39:44
Speaker 2: and doing all the things I do?
39:47
Speaker 3: I think it's so fun. Yeah.
39:49
Speaker 1: My brothers live like three blocks away from me, which
39:51
Speaker 1: is really nice of them, two of them, yeah, one
39:53
Speaker 1: of them still in college, but that's super fun and special.
39:56
Speaker 1: And then there's just so many of my friends in
39:58
Speaker 1: New York City that I think that's so fun, Especially
40:01
Speaker 1: coming out of college where you're like literally two minutes
40:02
Speaker 1: from everyone, it's nice to be able to see so
40:05
Speaker 1: many people.
40:05
Speaker 2: And growing up in Connecticut, you always envisioned that you'd
40:08
Speaker 2: moved to New York after college.
40:09
Speaker 3: I didn't really have a plan. I grew up in Connecticut.
40:12
Speaker 2: I always in really, yes, I always thought that I'd
40:14
Speaker 2: moved to New York after college. It was like New
40:16
Speaker 2: York or Boston, and New York's just so much cooler
40:18
Speaker 2: and no offense anyone that was But yeah.
40:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I in college kind of thought that
40:24
Speaker 1: was where I wanted to go next, and just with
40:26
Speaker 1: work and everything, that's where I ended up going. And
40:29
Speaker 1: it's so fun. There's so much to do in New York.
40:31
Speaker 3: It's nice.
40:31
Speaker 1: It definitely like takes thought, yeah, right, amidst being busy
40:35
Speaker 1: with a lot of different things. But I think that's
40:37
Speaker 1: everyone's life. Like you do prioritize family time, you do
40:40
Speaker 1: prioritize friend time. I know for me that like being
40:42
Speaker 1: able to do those fun twenty five year old things
40:44
Speaker 1: in New York City is something that feeds me, that
40:47
Speaker 1: relaxes me, that enables me to go be the best athlete.
40:50
Speaker 1: I can be, advocate, I can be speak or whatever
40:52
Speaker 1: that is. Yeah, it's important to have that time. So
40:55
Speaker 1: I do think I've gotten it, but it takes thought
40:56
Speaker 1: and effort and making it a priority to so.
41:00
Speaker 2: Coming hand in hand with being a twenty five in
41:03
Speaker 2: New York City is meeting a lot of people, right,
41:05
Speaker 2: some of my closest friends now I've met in this
41:08
Speaker 2: chapter of my life, and you know, I've been in
41:10
Speaker 2: New York for fifteen years. But getting to know them,
41:13
Speaker 2: is there this added layer that you bring when you
41:17
Speaker 2: tell them about your experience and being an amputee, does
41:20
Speaker 2: that bring up feelings for you.
41:23
Speaker 1: It doesn't bring up feelings in terms of like my
41:25
Speaker 1: own how I feel about saying I'm an amputee or
41:29
Speaker 1: kind of saying a shark attack, but it is something
41:33
Speaker 1: that like, especially at the beginning, I was really nervous.
41:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, for I think it was a cool.
41:38
Speaker 1: Thing to learn that, like, and obviously like there's your
41:42
Speaker 1: one offs that don't call it this way, But for
41:44
Speaker 1: the most part, it was built up in my head
41:46
Speaker 1: to be something bigger than it was, and the message
41:50
Speaker 1: that I've learned overall, Like I was even scared for
41:53
Speaker 1: my friends to see me crouching on one foot or
41:55
Speaker 1: in a prosthetic and in your head, you you, I
41:59
Speaker 1: built it up to be this big thing, and in reality,
42:03
Speaker 1: what I learned was like my friend's family love me
42:06
Speaker 1: for my heart and my mind and who I am
42:08
Speaker 1: and how I go through this world and not my
42:10
Speaker 1: left foot. Yeah, and it took time to learn that
42:13
Speaker 1: they taught me that, but it has helped as I
42:17
Speaker 1: make new friends and meet new people.
42:18
Speaker 3: Now.
42:19
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not something that I like upfront say like, Hi,
42:21
Speaker 1: I'm an amputee, like that's a part of who I am,
42:23
Speaker 1: but it's right like or all of me. But I
42:26
Speaker 1: think it's helped me feel less nervous, less scared about
42:30
Speaker 1: a response to kind of share in that way, because
42:34
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, but there's so much else about me
42:37
Speaker 1: that would make someone, you know, if they wanted to
42:40
Speaker 1: be my friend, that they would look for that's not
42:42
Speaker 1: just like is she an amputee or not? Because I
42:43
Speaker 1: think that's what it really was grounded in. Was for
42:45
Speaker 1: some reason in my head, how big it felt. And
42:48
Speaker 1: now you're like, I'm an amputee and you wear glasses
42:51
Speaker 1: and you right, like everyone has something different that that
42:55
Speaker 1: it felt less scary to kind of introduce.
42:57
Speaker 2: You mentioned unless there's a one off. Do you expects
43:00
Speaker 2: a lot of one off? So I would hope not
43:02
Speaker 2: like people like being rude or no good. Yeah, yeah,
43:07
Speaker 2: I hope not like that. Oh people, because people can.
43:10
Speaker 2: I mean I feel like probably more so on the internet,
43:12
Speaker 2: when people don't have to show your face to the
43:14
Speaker 2: it's a bad place. It's a very bad place. It's
43:17
Speaker 2: a very bad place. As we start to wind down
43:19
Speaker 2: here right now, someone goes to your Instagram page and
43:23
Speaker 2: they see this Paralympic medalist, they see an advocate, someone
43:28
Speaker 2: who really wants to show people that they too can
43:32
Speaker 2: be strong. When you look in the mirror, though, Alli,
43:35
Speaker 2: what is it that you see looking back at you?
43:39
Speaker 1: When I look in the mirror, I see someone who
43:44
Speaker 1: has worked to find hope enjoy after hardship. I see
43:51
Speaker 1: someone who has put in so much work to make
43:53
Speaker 1: lemons out of lemonade and work to give herself grace.
43:58
Speaker 1: Is she navigates a really bumpy of recovery.
44:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, and on that road to recovery, what would you
44:05
Speaker 2: say right now you're most excited about.
44:08
Speaker 3: Did I read that you're going to go to business school?
44:09
Speaker 3: I am going to business school. Talk to me about that.
44:11
Speaker 3: I'm really excited for it. Yeah.
44:13
Speaker 1: I applied my senior spring for like a deferred enrollment
44:18
Speaker 1: and an interviewed actually right after the attack, and then
44:22
Speaker 1: I will be starting next fall in business school. I'm
44:26
Speaker 1: really excited. I think you know, who knows where I
44:28
Speaker 1: pivot to after that. But even as for the nonprofit,
44:31
Speaker 1: as a founder and someone running the nonprofit, I think
44:34
Speaker 1: it's going to be really invaluable to get a lot
44:36
Speaker 1: of those skills, you know, coming from a liberal arts college,
44:39
Speaker 1: especially to get a lot of those business skills. I'm
44:41
Speaker 1: excited for and I love school, so I'm actually super
44:44
Speaker 1: stoked to go back to like classes learning.
44:46
Speaker 2: I love to go back to classes to learning. And
44:48
Speaker 2: this is like a year and a half. I'm like
44:51
Speaker 2: doing the math and I head like a year and
44:52
Speaker 2: a half, two years out from LA twenty eight.
44:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I will graduate and then a month later
44:58
Speaker 1: I will have Paralympic try for early twenty twenty eight.
45:01
Speaker 3: No big deal.
45:02
Speaker 2: Shuffling and balancing, absolutely nothing. But again, it seems like
45:07
Speaker 2: that's the kind of environment that you thrive on. It
45:10
Speaker 2: feels good to me. The last thing I want to
45:13
Speaker 2: touch on here again is your support system. I do
45:16
Speaker 2: think that it is such a beautiful thing, as you
45:19
Speaker 2: talked about at the beginning of this, the opportunity to
45:22
Speaker 2: really lean into your relationships.
45:24
Speaker 3: They've showed up for you so much.
45:26
Speaker 2: When you think about your relationships, talk to me a
45:29
Speaker 2: little bit about what they mean to you.
45:32
Speaker 1: When I think about my relationships, I'm filled with like
45:35
Speaker 1: overwhelming gratitude. I feel like I am just so lucky
45:40
Speaker 1: for the most incredible, incredible support system. It's really taught
45:45
Speaker 1: me who I want to be to other people, how
45:47
Speaker 1: I want to show up for others. The power of
45:50
Speaker 1: the ways that they have time and time again showed
45:53
Speaker 1: up for me in the small moments, in the big
45:55
Speaker 1: moments is irreplaceable and is such a lesson to me
45:58
Speaker 1: about what that holds, that does, what a difference maker
46:01
Speaker 1: it is. And actually for me, it's so exciting to
46:04
Speaker 1: be like, we all have the power to do that, right,
46:05
Speaker 1: Like the support we can give to someone else is
46:08
Speaker 1: such a game changer, and we control that.
46:10
Speaker 3: I think that's so cool.
46:12
Speaker 1: But honestly, like so many friends and family, I'm just
46:16
Speaker 1: incredibly lucky to have. And truly, when I think about
46:20
Speaker 1: what took me from like the lowest low in my
46:22
Speaker 1: life to the podium at the Paralympics to crossing the
46:25
Speaker 1: marathon finish line, Yes, there was a lot of internal
46:28
Speaker 1: strength and work that I put in, but the support
46:30
Speaker 1: around me. Every time my confidence faltered, which happens, they
46:34
Speaker 1: were there to pick it right back up and to
46:36
Speaker 1: be hand in hand going with me forward. And I
46:39
Speaker 1: think or sitting and crying on a couch right like
46:41
Speaker 1: wherever I was, they were meeting me and.
46:43
Speaker 3: Helping me reset.
46:44
Speaker 1: And it's something that like for me, when I think
46:47
Speaker 1: about the biggest blessings in my life.
46:49
Speaker 3: I'm like, my friends and family are at the top
46:51
Speaker 3: of that list.
46:52
Speaker 1: Community really is so important, and like I think about
46:56
Speaker 1: my journey as a testament to the power of community
46:58
Speaker 1: and support.
47:00
Speaker 2: I think you highlighted something that's very important, which is
47:04
Speaker 2: it could be like talking me through something, or it
47:06
Speaker 2: could be literally sitting on the couch next to me
47:09
Speaker 2: and crying. You must have learned so much about the
47:13
Speaker 2: different shapes that support and friendship and relationships can take.
47:18
Speaker 2: And it's hard because you also have to balance and
47:21
Speaker 2: deal with how people want to show up for you
47:24
Speaker 2: versus what you really need.
47:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, what I've learned, I would say two things. The
47:30
Speaker 1: first thing is like, even if people are showing up
47:32
Speaker 1: maybe in a way that's different than what you need,
47:35
Speaker 1: at the bottom of that is someone who's.
47:36
Speaker 3: There for you, trying to support you. That's very much.
47:38
Speaker 1: So.
47:38
Speaker 3: Yes, maybe they phrase.
47:39
Speaker 1: Something the way you didn't like, maybe they did something
47:42
Speaker 1: that you found something else might have been more helpful,
47:44
Speaker 1: and you can definitely communicate some of that. But like
47:47
Speaker 1: for me, I'm looking at that and I'm like, that's
47:48
Speaker 1: someone who has given up their time, their energy, their effort,
47:51
Speaker 1: their thought to be there and support me. Whether it
47:53
Speaker 1: was in the perfect way or not. But also coupled
47:56
Speaker 1: with that, I think what I've realized is before these
48:00
Speaker 1: two years, as someone who was typically on the other side,
48:03
Speaker 1: like obviously, there were moments where I supporter, Yes, the supporter.
48:06
Speaker 3: It's so easy to.
48:07
Speaker 1: Worry am I giving the right form of support? Do
48:10
Speaker 1: they want a text? And I called is it too
48:13
Speaker 1: late right now? Like I didn't support in time? Is
48:16
Speaker 1: it too small? Like there's so many things you worry
48:18
Speaker 1: about when you're supporting someone in the shapes and forms
48:21
Speaker 1: that you're supporting them, and being on the other side now,
48:24
Speaker 1: I'm like, I just kind of believe there really is
48:26
Speaker 1: no wrong form of support, Like whatever you have to give,
48:29
Speaker 1: whenever you have to give, it matters and moves the
48:32
Speaker 1: person forward. Obviously we have those worries, but I think
48:35
Speaker 1: for me, it's like I'm hopeful that that doesn't stop
48:39
Speaker 1: me from offering what I do have because at the
48:43
Speaker 1: bottom of it, like I said, is someone showing up
48:46
Speaker 1: for you to give what they have to help you?
48:49
Speaker 3: Yeah?
48:49
Speaker 2: Man, Again, there are so many things that if I
48:52
Speaker 2: had these perspectives, these insights at twenty five, I wonder
48:55
Speaker 2: who I'd be now. But that in particular, I think
48:59
Speaker 2: is just such a beautiful and important takeaway and something
49:02
Speaker 2: that a lot of people struggle with, so really beautiful
49:04
Speaker 2: to shine a light on it. Right now, Ali, before
49:08
Speaker 2: you leave, you have the opportunity to offer yourself a
49:10
Speaker 2: piece of advice. I want to bring you back to
49:12
Speaker 2: when you know, walking was questionable, getting in the water
49:16
Speaker 2: was definitely questionable. You had so much fear surrounding some
49:21
Speaker 2: of the things that at one point, in your words,
49:23
Speaker 2: you maybe even took for granted. Right knowing what you
49:26
Speaker 2: know now, what advice would you offer yourself in the
49:30
Speaker 2: post shark attack hurdle moment?
49:34
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm still learning, you know, I'm two years
49:36
Speaker 1: into being an amputee, But I think I would say,
49:39
Speaker 1: you know, to anyone, including myself, facing hardship, trauma, challenge,
49:44
Speaker 1: that you will overcome what you're facing, even though it
49:48
Speaker 1: might feel like you won't. We are stronger than we think,
49:52
Speaker 1: we have more in us, and you can go through
49:55
Speaker 1: the icans and the I won't send I'll never, but
49:58
Speaker 1: just know that you can and you will. There is
50:01
Speaker 1: a beautiful future ahead. And I would probably also add,
50:04
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, you know, especially in those early weeks
50:08
Speaker 1: and months post the shark attack, so really really emotional time,
50:14
Speaker 1: and for me, what was so helpful was to remind myself,
50:18
Speaker 1: or to get the reminder that our fears and our
50:22
Speaker 1: feelings are not facts.
50:25
Speaker 2: That is, everything so much happens in your mind, so
50:32
Speaker 2: much in the day to day. We talked about the
50:35
Speaker 2: majority of those negative thoughts right that we experience on
50:38
Speaker 2: the regular. Being able to distinguish what you just said
50:42
Speaker 2: is something that is such a game changer for so
50:46
Speaker 2: many yourself myself included Ali Truett. For those that aren't
50:50
Speaker 2: following along with you just yet, give us the details.
50:53
Speaker 2: How do we keep up with you on the socials?
50:54
Speaker 1: I'm on Instagram at at Ali Truett, and my nonprofit
50:58
Speaker 1: is on Instagram at at Stronger Than You Think.
51:00
Speaker 2: Beautiful, I'm over at Emily Body and at Hurdle Podcast
51:03
Speaker 2: Another Hurdle Conquered.
51:05
Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.