When American swimmer Ali Truwitt lost her leg in a shark attack,
she had a "flashback" to the day she first got back in the water, hearing
the splashing of the pool water. "It was really, really hard," she told CNN's Don Liddell. "At that
point, physically, the temperature of the water felt like an electric shock to my
leg, because it had just had all these new nerve endings severed. And emotionally,
hearing the sound of the water triggered a flashback of the seizure."
But at the same time, she added, there was a "ray of hope" that "my
time in the water felt peaceful and fun" as she tried to rediscover her "love
of the water." And just 16 months after that life-changing day, she swam on
the biggest stage ever, winning two Paralympic silver medals in the women's 400m
freestyle and 100m backstroke S10 at the Paris Games."It's an emotion that's hard to put into words, but it rests on the shoulders
of so many people who supported me so brilliantly this year, even in the stands
in Paris," she said. Truwitt, a Yale University competitive swimmer studying cognitive science and economics, was on holiday snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands with teammate Sophie Pilkington when the attack happened. "It was the worst day, the worst hour, the worst moment. It's something I wouldn't wish on even my worst enemy," Truwitt said. "But looking back now, I endeavor to emphasize the resilience that Sophie and I demonstrated, as well as my gratitude for Sophie's composed demeanor and medical expertise, but also her selflessness and friendship that saved my life." They managed to fight off the shark and swim back to the boat, where a friend applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Truwitt was then flown by helicopter to the hospital, where doctors performed three surgeries and
ultimately amputated her left leg just below the knee on her 23rd birthday. “In the initial days following the incident, I experienced vivid recollections of the attack along with several nightmares," she said. "My mom spent countless sleepless nights with me and helped me get through it. But I think you have to learn to face your fears and that it's okay to have flashbacks. ”
A month after the attack, Noelle Lambert, a U.S. Paralympian who also competed in Paris, reached out to Truwitt and "planted the seed" for her to compete in the Paralympics.
"It started with... trying to get back into my love of the water, and then trying to incorporate exercise and cardio, which I was really missing, so I started to have a sort of 'what if?' feeling. 'What if I succeed?'" she said "And usually my 'what if' thoughts don't end very positively. They're more neurotic and anxious thoughts, so it was really inspiring for me to be able to think of a 'what if' that was so exciting and happy in the middle of a lot of sadness and tears." And when she competed in Paris, her family, her coach who'd led her out of retirement to come back to compete, and her friends, including the people who saved her life, were all in the stands and cheered her on as she won the silver medal.
"My lifesaver, my hero, my sister, my best friend.”The most selfless, incredibly compassionate and powerful inspiration I have ever had," she wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of the two friends who saved her life.
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