Episode 165: Unbreakable Spirit: The Resilience of Paralympians

[00:00:00] Welcome back to the Back on Track Achieving Healthy Weight Loss, where I help you get on

[00:00:05] track and stay on track with your weight loss journey.

[00:00:09] I'm your host, Dr. Alicia Shelly, so let's get started.

[00:00:27] Welcome to the Back on Track Achieving Healthy Weight Loss podcast.

[00:00:31] I'm your host, Dr. Alicia Shelly.

[00:00:34] So for the last week and a half, I have been binge-watching the Paralympics.

[00:00:40] And I've been so inspired seeing the variety of disabilities and how these athletes have

[00:00:46] not let anything limit them in what they're doing in achieving athletically.

[00:00:51] Whether it's they may be having it being visual impaired, where they have a guide running

[00:00:56] with them or whether it is they're swimming without arms or legs and they're just killing

[00:01:02] it.

[00:01:03] They are killing it.

[00:01:04] And so I got really inspired.

[00:01:06] You can't see me, but I am wearing my USA triathlon kit because it just reminds me that anything

[00:01:13] is possible.

[00:01:14] That's the actual, maybe similar to the tagline for I'm in, that anything is possible.

[00:01:20] And the funny thing is you just put your mind to it, you can do it.

[00:01:23] And so I got really inspired to want to talk about just the resilience of the Paralympians.

[00:01:28] Also this week, I was talking to one of my patients' husbands.

[00:01:33] He came with her to the visit and throughout the visit she was saying, yeah, he tells me

[00:01:37] that I just need to keep moving, keep moving.

[00:01:40] And I didn't realize till after I was walking the mail and he was saying, you know, several

[00:01:46] years ago, I actually was paraplegic.

[00:01:49] I had had a work accident where I fractured my neck.

[00:01:52] I could not move my hands or my legs.

[00:01:55] And I went to the Shepherd Center, which is a local rehabilitation center here in Atlanta,

[00:02:01] where he started off with you being in a wheelchair and actually just guiding his wheelchair with

[00:02:07] a straw in his mouth.

[00:02:08] And then from there, he moved on to using a wheelchair, you know, with his hand.

[00:02:13] And then fast forward several years now look at him.

[00:02:17] He is walking and you couldn't even tell.

[00:02:20] I didn't even know that he, unless he had told me that he had this tragic accident

[00:02:25] years before, I would never have known that this man overcame all obstacles because he said

[00:02:31] the doctor's told him he was never going to walk again.

[00:02:33] And now he's walking without a cane at his wife's visit, inspiring her to move forward

[00:02:39] and to keep moving, you know, and to not what he said.

[00:02:42] If you don't use it, you'll lose it.

[00:02:44] So inspiring other people to keep moving.

[00:02:46] And that's just one of the resilience, that mindset of resilience, overcoming adversity,

[00:02:51] overcoming what people are telling you and just focusing on a goal and actually competing in.

[00:02:56] And so that and the Apparel Olympics together inspired me to want to talk a little bit more about it.

[00:03:01] But before we continue, I do want to just maybe talk about kind of what is the Apparel

[00:03:05] Olympics and where did also if you're not familiar with this, let me just share a little

[00:03:09] bit more about the backstory of the history.

[00:03:11] So the Apparel Olympics began as a small event in 1948, originally known as the Stoke

[00:03:17] Mandeville Games.

[00:03:19] It was organized by Sir Ludwig Gutman, who was a neurologist in England.

[00:03:24] And he did.

[00:03:25] He helped injured World War Two veterans rehabilitate through sports.

[00:03:29] And on the same day as the 1948 London Olympics, it featured the wheelchair bound

[00:03:36] athletes competing in archery.

[00:03:38] So that was where they started in archery.

[00:03:39] And if you did watch the Apparel Olympics with archery, there are some people

[00:03:43] that don't have arms and were able to actually put back with just their legs.

[00:03:50] Like they literally picked up the bow from with their foot.

[00:03:54] They put it back and was able to hit like, you know, bullseye right through the

[00:03:59] middle, just with their legs, with no arms, which was amazing.

[00:04:03] Amazing.

[00:04:04] Anyway, and then for those just a quick plug, if you haven't seen the

[00:04:07] Paralympics, it is binging.

[00:04:09] You can get on YouTube.

[00:04:10] I know they have the Peacock app, which has it there.

[00:04:13] So there's other ways where you can binge watch the Paralympics as well.

[00:04:17] If you missed it also, but it really didn't become official Paralympic games

[00:04:22] until the 1960s.

[00:04:24] That's the first Paralympic games are held in Rome, Italy with over 400

[00:04:28] athletes from about 23 countries.

[00:04:31] And it became an international sporting event for athletes with various

[00:04:34] disabilities. The name Paralympics reflects the Greek word para, meaning

[00:04:38] beside or alongside symbolizing its connection to the Olympic games.

[00:04:42] And the one thing I will say by, because this is my first time really

[00:04:46] watching the Paralympics, like I may have seen a couple events over

[00:04:49] the years, but like really, really watching it.

[00:04:52] This was like my first time and I always had to kind of look at this time

[00:04:55] was like, what were people's disabilities?

[00:04:57] Because not all disabilities you see, right?

[00:05:00] Like they have two ways, two arms and they're walking.

[00:05:03] So what's their disability?

[00:05:05] But what I didn't realize is that sometimes people have

[00:05:07] disabilities with weakness of that left hand.

[00:05:10] You know, they may not have the full strength of their leg.

[00:05:13] Some people are visually impaired.

[00:05:14] So it was just amazing to see all the various disabilities and how

[00:05:18] people were able to overcome them to excel at this high level.

[00:05:23] And I mean, and these people weren't just like for the 100 meter race.

[00:05:27] It was like nine seconds.

[00:05:28] But these guys who won the 100 meter race in the different,

[00:05:31] they are like running 11 seconds.

[00:05:33] So literally two seconds off what the Olympics was.

[00:05:36] So these are people at their highest elite training, but maybe they don't have,

[00:05:41] you know, they have an amputation of their leg.

[00:05:44] They have an artificial leg that they're utilizing.

[00:05:46] So it's just amazing to kind of see just how people were able to overcome.

[00:05:52] And then since the 1960s, the Paralympics have grown into a global event

[00:05:56] which is held every four years following the summer and winter Olympics.

[00:06:01] The athletes competing in various sports adapted for different physical abilities.

[00:06:05] And the games have been played as significant role in changing perceptions

[00:06:08] about disability and promoting inclusiveness.

[00:06:11] And there are many challenges that the Paralympics faced,

[00:06:15] such as a lack of recognition and support, especially in the early years.

[00:06:19] The Paralympics struggled to gain recognition from the broader sports

[00:06:22] community and international organization.

[00:06:25] And it wasn't until 1988.

[00:06:27] Now, mind you, the first event was 1948.

[00:06:30] So 1988, 40 years later that the Paralympics became officially linked with the Olympics

[00:06:36] and received the global attention it deserved.

[00:06:39] Well, and then the second challenge was funding issues.

[00:06:42] Securing adequate funding and sponsorships was a significant challenge

[00:06:46] for the Paralympics.

[00:06:47] Many sponsors and governments were hesitant to invest in events

[00:06:50] for disabled athletes, which limited resources for training, travel and proper facilities.

[00:06:55] And that's the one thing we did notice.

[00:06:57] Me and my friends who were watching, they're like, you know,

[00:06:59] when although the US had a huge delegation, definitely, but when you compared it

[00:07:05] to the delegation for the Olympics, it was definitely a lot smaller.

[00:07:10] And you just wonder the different sponsorships that people have

[00:07:13] to kind of help them go because these people actually worked full time jobs.

[00:07:17] There was this Spanish runner or triathlete.

[00:07:20] She won gold in her triathlon disability category and she was blind.

[00:07:25] She was in the I forget exactly the criteria,

[00:07:27] but she was actual doctor.

[00:07:29] She was a doctor in Spain and she's doing this and she ran and I mean,

[00:07:33] she did great. I mean, she won a gold medal in that race.

[00:07:36] And another lady was a nurse and some other people had full time jobs.

[00:07:40] And this is just something they did on the side.

[00:07:42] So it wasn't like they had their whole career to doing the sport.

[00:07:46] They were just focused on, you know, they have another career

[00:07:50] and they do this as, you know, weekend warrior, shall we say?

[00:07:53] The other thing I would say as well is that the one thing

[00:07:56] they were promoting during the broadcast is that some of these athletes

[00:07:59] have now joined regular like going to different universities

[00:08:03] that have a track program.

[00:08:05] They've been included in that track program, which is great.

[00:08:07] And then there is a nonprofit organization called There to Try,

[00:08:11] which focuses on disability triathletes with disabilities.

[00:08:16] And one of the ladies, I forget who it was, she interned there.

[00:08:20] And one of her like when she exited,

[00:08:22] the goal was for her to do a triathlon and she did it.

[00:08:25] And then after the Olympics, actually competing in the track

[00:08:29] on which was pretty amazing.

[00:08:30] So definitely funding issues is important.

[00:08:32] I would say we do need to fund more and we do need to support our

[00:08:36] Paralympic athletes also media coverage.

[00:08:40] Early on, the challenges of Paralympics received minimal media attention

[00:08:44] compared to the Olympics and that hinders the visibility and growth.

[00:08:47] You know, you don't know what you don't know.

[00:08:49] And sometimes, you know, not seeing this on television or knowing

[00:08:53] that it's even going on makes a big difference.

[00:08:56] And so this time, NBC had it on like USA, CNBC channels.

[00:09:00] And they actually did have it on NBC too over the weekends,

[00:09:04] where they were showing that coverage, which was good.

[00:09:06] Also a lot of social stigma and misconceptions about disability.

[00:09:10] Because like I said, there's some people you look at them,

[00:09:12] you wouldn't think they had a disability.

[00:09:14] They do.

[00:09:15] How are they multiple sclerosis or weakness?

[00:09:18] You know, sometimes you can really tell, but other times you can't.

[00:09:21] And so that misconception and social stigma is something we still have to work on.

[00:09:26] And then also finding limited accessibility.

[00:09:29] A lot of times when people and I'll share a story coming up about a lady who was told,

[00:09:33] oh yeah, you have this disability, well, you can't do anything.

[00:09:36] And not realize that there's other options for people to still stay active

[00:09:39] despite their disability.

[00:09:41] I have a young lady who sees me, who has exactly mental disability

[00:09:46] and she has been able to just compete in gymnastics competition

[00:09:50] in the Special Olympics.

[00:09:51] She even, well, unfortunately couldn't make it,

[00:09:53] but was going to go to Belgium to participate in the Special Olympics.

[00:09:57] So we definitely need to support our local Special Olympics in our community.

[00:10:01] But despite these challenges, the Paralympics has grown into a prestigious

[00:10:05] international event, championing both athletic excellence and disability rights

[00:10:09] and making sure that we are aware that we need to have more access

[00:10:13] for people with disabilities and just have and change our misconceptions about it as well.

[00:10:18] I do want to highlight a couple of stories of a few of the Paralympic athletes

[00:10:22] who inspired me.

[00:10:24] So I was binge watching the triathlon, which was a whole eight hour segment.

[00:10:29] But because it was eight hours.

[00:10:31] Well, first of all, there was issues with the water quality of the sign.

[00:10:34] So they had to push it back a day.

[00:10:35] So they had everyone's triathlon event on the same day.

[00:10:40] And so it was like eight hours with all the different categories.

[00:10:43] But one of the most inspiring stories that I heard was from

[00:10:46] the Paralympian Lauren Parker.

[00:10:49] She's an Australian Paralympian, a triathlon who became a paraplegic due to a bike accident.

[00:10:55] In 2017, just days before competing in her first Ironman triathlon,

[00:11:01] she was involved in a devastating bike accident where both her tires,

[00:11:06] she was going at like high speed.

[00:11:08] Like it was like 45 miles per hour.

[00:11:09] She was beast because I'm like, my goodness,

[00:11:12] I don't think I can get to 45 miles per hour.

[00:11:14] But anyway, both her tires bursted and she crashed into a guard rail,

[00:11:19] which left her with spinal cord injuries and paraplegia.

[00:11:23] Despite that life changing injury, Lauren made an incredible comeback as a triathlete.

[00:11:29] So just three years later, she went on to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

[00:11:34] where she won a silver medal in the women's wheelchair class, PTAWC class.

[00:11:40] And her resilience and determination made her an inspiring figure in both

[00:11:43] triathlon and Paralympic communities.

[00:11:46] She's also the first Australian to win a Paralympic gold across two different sports

[00:11:51] at the same game since 1976.

[00:11:55] So in the 2024 Olympics, she won two gold medals, triathlon and road race,

[00:12:00] and one silver medal for the Chime Trial in this Olympics.

[00:12:04] Like this woman, I was watching her like she didn't let anything stop her.

[00:12:08] She kept going.

[00:12:09] She was moving forward like she was a series.

[00:12:14] And another Olympian that inspired me was Rebecca Watts.

[00:12:17] She's an elite track lead, a mom and a nurse.

[00:12:21] And she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018.

[00:12:26] It affected her ability to walk.

[00:12:27] It affected her ability to use her right hand.

[00:12:29] And then also she had difficulties with her visual processing

[00:12:33] and her cognitive abilities.

[00:12:35] But what most impressed me about her was that she was just like me.

[00:12:40] She's a curvy girl doing triathlon and she was killing it.

[00:12:44] Like she came up first in the 2024 World Triathlon Paracup in Toronto

[00:12:50] and then also in the 2024 America's triathlon Parachampionship in Miami.

[00:12:55] She was second and then for the 2024 World Triathlon Paraseries in

[00:13:00] Oklahoma, she was second.

[00:13:01] And then in 2023, she was second in the US Paratrathalon National Championships.

[00:13:07] Which is amazing!

[00:13:09] The fact that she came up second and now she was in the Paris Olympics is amazing.

[00:13:16] Now she did not medal in her class.

[00:13:18] But what was just the fact that she was able to represent the US was amazing.

[00:13:22] And her story is truly inspiring.

[00:13:24] She said in an interview that she was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis

[00:13:28] and the providers in the hospital questioned her to plan for a future without enduro sports.

[00:13:34] Up to this point, she was actually a long distance runner.

[00:13:36] Fuck mess up!

[00:13:37] I did marathons before I decided to do triathlon.

[00:13:40] So she just resonated with me.

[00:13:41] But they never discussed with her.

[00:13:43] The doctors never discussed with her adaptive gears, ways, you know, adaptive sports

[00:13:48] that would allow her to still stay active despite her disability.

[00:13:51] And so for her, you know, to go from being used to doing marathons

[00:13:57] to like doing sedentary activities, it was devastating for her.

[00:14:00] And so she vowed that she would find a way to enjoy an active future

[00:14:05] that would focus on asking herself what can you do instead of focusing

[00:14:09] on what she could not do when her changed abilities placed obstacles

[00:14:13] between herself and her goals.

[00:14:15] And she says, I feel more alive now than I've ever felt before.

[00:14:19] Like Emma's oddly enough was the gift I never knew I wanted.

[00:14:23] Wrapped in the ugliest wrapping paper I've ever seen.

[00:14:26] She said, and she also says I could lose my abilities any day.

[00:14:29] So I want to live every day to the fullest.

[00:14:32] And that's just mind blowing.

[00:14:34] The fact that you can see in best as the greatest gift you never wanted

[00:14:39] because it opened up your mind to what else you could do

[00:14:42] and just how powerful your thoughts are, how you can just ask yourself,

[00:14:46] what can I do instead of what can I do and be able to supersede

[00:14:50] everyone's expectations, even the doctors who probably don't really

[00:14:54] do marathons or triathlons and be able to say, Hey, yes, I have this disability.

[00:14:59] Yes, I have these obstacles.

[00:15:00] My abilities have changed, but that is OK.

[00:15:03] I'm going to move forward.

[00:15:04] And the one thing from Rebecca is that there will always be obstacles in our lives.

[00:15:09] But like Rebecca and like these other Pere Levenes, we have the last say

[00:15:14] in what we can do.

[00:15:16] We know that there will always be things that we can focus on

[00:15:20] and not our health, but we need to focus on what we can do instead of what we can't do.

[00:15:25] When it comes to losing weight, there will always be obstacles

[00:15:27] stopping us from doing everything perfectly.

[00:15:31] So whether it's eating right or exercising consistently.

[00:15:34] But if we change how we look at these obstacles, we will be in a better place.

[00:15:39] We'll move forward and we'll see progress in our illness journey.

[00:15:43] And so I want to leave you with one last quote from Rebecca Wasp

[00:15:46] because she was very inspiring.

[00:15:48] And I was again, I'm wearing my trisuit in honor of our USA

[00:15:52] Pere Olympians.

[00:15:54] But her quote is you don't get to tell me what my life's going to be like

[00:15:59] and what my future is going to be like.

[00:16:01] So I'm going to do the best I can to create something different.

[00:16:05] I hope that as we move throughout this week,

[00:16:08] that we all create a different normal in our wellness journey.

[00:16:12] Know that you no one can tell you what you are,

[00:16:16] what your life's going to be and what your future is going to be.

[00:16:18] Only you can paint that picture.

[00:16:20] Only you can paint that brush.

[00:16:22] So make sure that we stop making excuses and overcome the obstacles

[00:16:26] that we face and move forward.

[00:16:29] Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Back on Track

[00:16:32] Achieving Healthy Weight Loss Podcast.

[00:16:35] If you like this episode, please share it with others.

[00:16:38] And don't forget to like it and subscribe.

[00:16:40] And please leave a five-star review.

[00:16:42] All right, we'll see you next time.