Former American collegiate swimmer Ali Truwit proves never giving up pays off after she ended up recently taking home the silver twice in the Paralympics, 16 months after she lost her leg in a shark attack.
The 24-year-old swimmer competed in Paris and took home the silver in the women’s 100m backstroke S10 on September 6 and the women’s S10 400-meter freestyle, setting a new American record in the latter with a time of 4:31.39, CNN reported.
“It’s a real full circle moment and speaks to the support I have all around me,” Truwit told members of the press after her race. “When you are truly faced with death and you understand what a second chance at life means, you want to make the most of it.”
“Every day there is something new for me that I learn that kind of evokes a new memory from the attack,” she added. “Because I was conscious the whole time. Truthfully, at the start I thought it was going to be something where I overcame the fear and that was it.”
“I have learned from this journey that that is not what this journey looks like,” Truwit continued. “That there will be days it’s great and there will be days I have to fight to get that love back. But I would say I am at 90:10 right now of really feeling comfortable and happy in the water and I am thankful to be there.”
Ali Truwit is simply incredible 🌟#ParisParalympics pic.twitter.com/m970lHnAer
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) September 5, 2024
In May 2023, Truwit was on vacation swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Turks and Caicos when she was attacked by the shark. She managed to fight off the animal and then swim some 70 meters to a boat before she was airlifted to the hospital, CNN noted.
“I think it was survival instinct. It was a terrible day, it’s a terrible memory. It was shocking, terrifying, but I am alive, I am here and I am going to make the most of it,” Truwit said.
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Doctors were able to save her life, but the swimmer ended up losing her foot and part of her leg in the attack. She underwent three surgeries and six months later, she got back in the water and now is a two-time silver medalist.
Truwit couldn’t have gotten where she is today without that persistence, but credits those closest to her, her friends and family, with helping her make it.
“Sophie, who was in the water with me and tied the tourniquet on my leg and saved my life, is in the stands, as well as Hannah, who was the one who was in medical school rotation at the trauma hospital I was airlifted to,” Truwit said after the race. “I am so lucky for them and all the others in the stands.”
“I think my parents have done an incredible job raising me and my three brothers to be adaptable, to try and look for the positives in life and appreciate all we have been given,” she added. “So, when I was faced with a life-changing trauma, I worked to see the positive and focus on gratitude and let that carry me.”
Related: U.S. Wraps Up Olympic Swimming With Another Gold Medal And A New World Record
