Shayna's Story: Broken No More
Shayna Elizabeth was flying down the highway on her road bike in the early morning of June 30, 2012.
Wheels spinning.
Breeze on her face.
She joined six friends, all triathletes, on a training ride, as they sped past the saguaro cactus and palo verde.
Shayna grabbed the water bottle from the cross bar and took a drink, without breaking stride. She rode close to the white painted line on the dark asphalt, riding fast and smooth. She shifted gears. She saw her friend in the distance and decided to try and catch her. Shayna increased her pedal stroke. She felt strong. Invincible.
As she approached the next intersection, Shayna instinctively checked for traffic. She had the right of way. She tucked in tight, intending to sail cleanly through, when something caught the corner of her eye.
A vehicle pulled directly into her path. The drunk driver did not even slow, as she pulled right in front of Shayna.
With no time to brake, Shayna hit the car’s side panels at full speed, wheels and flesh and helmet all meeting metal in one screeching crash.
When the crunching, tumbling, tearing, twisting ended -- time stopped.
But only for a few minutes.
Shayna awoke to visions of helmeted friends peering down at her on the asphalt, assuring her she would be alright.
She broke fifteen bones, including:
Her pelvis in three places.
Her left wrist spun around, the bone breaking free of constricting skin.
Her left knee, completely shattered.
Her right knee, patella split in half.
Several ribs broken. Lung punctured.
Two surgeries, each lasting four-five hours, put her back together with pins, screws and plates. (She would later have two more surgeries.) Shayna spent ten weeks in bed, on morphine, unable to move her arms or legs. As an athlete, her brain struggled to accept the fact that she couldn't move, that all her basic functions had to be cared for by other people.
After several months in a care center, she was released to the reality of her new life. A woman who used to have miles speed by under her feet could not handle the exhaustion of one aisle in the grocery store.
In November she went to cheer on friends at the Tempe Town Lake Ironman competition. Again, exhaustion compelled her to leave early, but the next day -- still unable to walk -- she signed up to compete in the event the following year.
The triathlon community surrounded her as she began the task of completing that goal.
Before she could race, she had to learn to walk. Before she would run, she had to learn to handle curbs. (Stairs are still difficult.) Before she could fly again, she had to face her biggest fear: The bike.
For weeks Shayna dressed in her bike gear: bike shorts, shirt, helmet, shoes. She couldn't even get on the bike. All she could do was cry. She took everything off and tried again another day. Bike shorts, shirt, helmet, shoes. Shayna got the point she could sit on the bike, but couldn't handle riding
.Again, she cried and put everything away for another day.
To this day, Shayna still fights the fear of being Humpty Dumpty and shattering into pieces all over the road.
A bicycle spin class helped her get her strength back. Swimming was also a challenge. Her arms had been in casts so long, that her left hand could not reach to her hip bone. Her instructor gave her stretching exercises to repair the damage.
Eighteen months after the accident, on November 17, 2013, Shayna completed the Ironman: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a full marathon of running - 26.2 miles.
The run was the most difficult. Before the day of the race, the most Sayna had run had been 13 miles. She couldn't deal with the pain, but that day, with everyone cheering, she was able to run the full distance
.But the event where she was the strongest? The bike ride.
Just 18 months since she had been a crumbled mess of flesh and metal, she was once again back on a bike -- flying.
"I needed to prove to myself that the drunk driver didn't take everything from me," Shayna said. "When the going is difficult, I choose to be grateful for what I can do, not for what I can't do."
This hard-won choice -- the giving of thanks in the hard-- gives Shayna the courage to face the difficult.
"You never know what the person next to you is struggling with," Shayna said. "I choose to be grateful."
Thankfulness is not a kindergarten exercise when life is easy, but an essential workout for the terrible days, when life is difficult. This giving of thanks is part of the secret to Shayna’s recovery, as important as training runs, physical therapy, and stretching exercises.
Gratitude has made it possible for Shayna to once again fly.