Born and raised in North Texas, Kelly has always been an athlete. A swimmer in college and a physician assistant after, Kelly was shocked when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2008. After finding a treatment that slowed down the progress of the disease, Kelly continued with her everyday life - working, running half marathons, completing half Ironmans, and riding her bike. For a decade, Kelly lived with manageable MS, but in 2018, had a relapse, this time as transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord. This resulted in her being in a wheelchair, but Kelly was determined to get back up.
While at rehab at Baylor Frisco, she came to ATF on a fieldtrip and immediately fell in love with the atmosphere and connections. Even before she was an ATF athlete, Kelly came every Friday to watch workouts and be in an environment that had such a positive affect on her. In 2019, Kelly went through Class 16 and earned the nickname “bulldog” for her strength and fighting spirit.
After graduating the ReDefine program, Kelly competed in elite Spartan races, paratriathlon, and handcycling races. In fact, she even got a Boston qualifying time for handcycling. She just started getting into watersports last summer in 2020, but in June, she took a bad fall on the sit ski while water skiing and broke her neck, sustaining a cervical spinal cord injury. Kelly was paralyzed from the neck down.
Kelly has been through a lot in her life, but this hands down has been the toughest battle. Since her injury happened during the Covid-19 pandemic, she was isolated in the hospital with no visitors post-surgery and during rehab. Kelly was extremely motivated by wanting to continue living independently. She succeeded, but still faces daily challenges around the house.
Now as a part of Class 21, Kelly is looking forward to being pushed. Her goals include getting back to driving, improved hand function, strong core and trunk, and to start the progression of walking again. Lastly, she’s excited about the opportunity to compete again, whether that be paratriathlon or hand cycling races.
%20(1).jpg)
