In 2005, as a 19 year old college student, Krysten Chambrodt lost her left leg above the knee in a motor vehicle accident. Now a food writer/editor at the NY Times, she is planning on running the NYC Marathon. Her article in the October 16th NY Times is worth reading.
I started running as an amputee seven years ago, when, on a whim, I swung by a running workshop for lower leg amputees held at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan and organized by the Challenged Athletes Foundation. I didn’t know what to expect, but what awaited me surpassed even my wildest expectations: Little boys bounced forward on their blades, stumbling over themselves with unadulterated joy and determination, and strong, fit adults, men and women alike, who’d even gone on to participate in Ironman triathlons.
A dear friend, who’d spent a large part of her life grappling with illness and knew what it meant to be young and to face a long road to recovery, once gave me the best advice. “Seeing yourself heal is pretty amazing,” she wrote barely a month after my accident, and just a couple of years before her death, “I know it seems impossible right now because you have a long way to go, but it’s already started, and as time goes on, just watch how rad it is to discover what your body is capable of.”
Read: Training for the Marathon on 1.3 Legs.