In Paris, 24-year-old US swimmer Ali Truwit will compete in the 100-meter freestyle on Sunday. The victim of a shark attack is turning a tragedy into an inspiring success story.
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- After a serious shark attack and the amputation of her leg, Ali Truwit developed into a world-class para-athlete in just one year and qualified for the 2024 Paralympic Games.
- Despite her stroke of fate, she has never lost her courage to face life.
- The Paralympic Games not only offer Truwit a sporting platform, but also the opportunity to raise awareness of the para-sport community and advocate for people with disabilities.
In May 2023, just days before her graduation from Yale University, 24-year-old Ali Truwit's life takes an unimaginable turn. A snorkeling trip off the Turks and Caicos Islands turns into a fight for survival due to a shark attack.
"We kicked and pushed against the shark, but it just bit through my foot. My first thought was: am I crazy now or do I no longer have a foot? It was an incredibly hard thought for me. But then we immediately went into action. We swam for our lives in a fraction of a second," Truwit recalled to CBS.
The heavily bleeding Truwit and her friend Sophie Pilkinton had to cover around 70 meters to get to the boat while the shark was still circling around them. "Without our years of training, I'm not sure we would have made it back to the boat in the open sea." Once on board, Pilkinton quickly applies a life-saving tourniquet. "Swimming is the first thing that saved my life, and the second was my teammate Sophie," says Truwit full of gratitude.
After the attack, Truwit was admitted to hospital and later flown to New York, where she underwent three operations. On her 23rd birthday, the doctors amputated her lower left leg. Despite this stroke of fate, followed by many dark days, Truwit does not lose her courage to face life. "I'm alive, and I almost wasn't," she tells CBS. And in an interview with "Forbes", she explains that she has decided to be guided by gratitude, because: "Everything I have achieved rests on the shoulders of countless people who have supported me."
Trauma therapy helps her on her way back
Truwit soon starts prosthesis training and strength exercises, but returning to the pool is also a mental feat. "The last time I heard the sound of water, we were swimming for our lives. I remember the whole attack; I was conscious the whole time. So it was hard to even hear the sound of water again and not have any memories of the attack."
With the help of trauma therapy, she combats her nightmares and dives back into the water for the first time in three and a half months. She says: "After my lower leg, I didn't want to lose my love of water. Water and swimming were always my first love."
And how she does. With the help of her former coach Jamie Barone, Truwit manages to qualify for the Paralympic Games thanks to top performances at the national championships. In Paris, she will be competing for the US Paralympics team in the 100-meter backstroke, 400-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle. "I think hearing my name on that team reminded me that I'm stronger than I think I am. That we're all stronger than we think we are," says Truwit.
"I refused to let fear rule my life," she says and continues: "I was given a second chance and I was determined to make the most of it." Being able to call herself a Paralympian now is "a crazy feeling, especially considering where I was just over a year ago," says the 24-year-old.
Truwit: "I love comeback stories"
Truwit's story is inspiring and an example of how you can find happiness again despite serious setbacks in life. "I love comeback stories," she said herself. "I've definitely leaned on the comeback stories of others to hold on to the audacious and unrealistic hope of fighting off a shark, surviving, losing a limb and making it to the Paralympics within a year."
And she certainly has a chance of winning a medal. But that is not her primary concern. "The Paralympics are about so much more than just sport and medals," says Truwit. "It's about gaining a platform to talk about and advocate for important issues and raise awareness of the achievements and needs of people with disabilities."
Her attitude is truly impressive and demonstrates incredible mental strength. "We can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it and how we make sense of it... I'm here, I'm alive and I'm going to work on making sense of it all," says the 24-year-old. She continues: "I hope that my story can serve to inspire hope and show others who are going through trauma or adversity that they too can rise."
