Ali Truwit was snorkeling with a friend last year when calamity struck and a shark attacked her.
A swimmer who was determined not to ‘lose her love of the water’ has overcome the odds a year after a terrifying shark attack.
Ali Truwit, 24, who will compete in this year’s Paralympic Games in Paris, lost her leg in a shark attack last year while snorkeling with a friend.
Ali, of Connecticut, feared she’d never swim again after the terrible incident, but with a lot of hard effort, she qualified for the 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and 100m backstroke.
“I love comeback stories,” she said.
“I’ve definitely relied on other people’s comeback stories to help me hold on to what feels like a bold and unrealistic hope — of fighting off a shark and surviving and losing a limb and making the Paralympics all in a year.”
Ali suffered a catastrophic attack while snorkeling in Turks & Caicos with a friend last May.
She was bitten by a shark but luckily escaped after swimming 75 meters for her life.
“We tried to fight back,” she told the Associated Press.
“My immediate thought was, ‘Am I crazy or do I not have a foot right now?’
“It was a really hard image for me. But you move immediately into action.”
Ali was transported to the hospital by helicopter after successfully returning to the boat, where she underwent emergency surgery and had her lower leg amputated.
Ali put in a huge amount of work to recover, both psychologically and physically, in preparation for the Paralympics, determined not to ‘lose her love of the water’.
“I was just really curious how I was going to feel being back on the pool deck and back in a competitive space,” she said.
“The more I worked at it, the flashbacks reduced and the pain lessened.”
Ali said she is’so fortunate’ to be able to feel joy in the water as the Paralympics begin.
“A year ago, I was just working to get back in the water,” she said.
“I now get back in the water and that sense of joy comes back, and the smile comes back. To have that again is something I’m so thankful for.
“Honestly, it’s one of the moments in my swim career that I’m the proudest of because I know how much work it took.”
The Paralympic Games will begin August 28 and go until Sunday, September 8.
