The first of the family to really begin the recovery was Liz herself, insisting on an immediate return to Salt Lake City, and showing both strength and humor by going to a skaters' Halloween party three weeks later, in full leg cast, as Nancy Kerrigan! Around that same time, she returned to the Utah Oval to train and rehab as well as possible.
By late October, three weeks post-injury, Liz was on an exercise bike at the Oval (photo on left), still wearing a leg brace, and trying to move on the running track in a technique she called "agility crutching." By January, 2011 she was mentally ready to test her leg on ice at a public session at the Oval, as seen in right photo, accompanied by teammate Jerebelle Yutangco, doing a uncannily accurate impersonation her Dad's "low" skating position! About the same speed, too. Liz continued her physical therapy (of various sorts), her treatment with a Tennant biomodulator, nutritional supplementation, chiropractic and acupuncture, and also continued her classwork at the University of Utah. Along the way, she made a decision to move to long track, and she entered the summer doing bike work with the long-track skaters at the Oval. That decision to switch disciplines prompted this from one of Liz's first coaches, Marty Medina of the Rochester Speed Skating Team: "She looks great on the Long Track. It is definitely where she needs to be." Did I mention that Liz, Jerebelle and Katy Ralston (who had fully recovered from her injury in the same accident as Liz) went skydiving in May, with Andrea and Elaine Dehnke rooting them on?
On July 13th, nine months from the accident, our friend Jerry Search found Liz on the 400 meter track at the Oval, clap skates fixed to short track boots, to provide a little more ankle support in the absence of regenerated nerves, and took this picture:
There is a long road ahead to full recovery, but say what you will, this proud Dad thinks he has been watching a profile in courage.
1 comment:
This makes me sound cooler than I am lol
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