In November 2020, I watched Nick Bare’s Ironman Rise documentary for the first time and was truly touched by the whole story and tribute to his mother, who battled cancer just like my mother. In the spring of 2018, my mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Hearing this news broke our hearts, but we vowed to stay positive as we knew she would overcome this major challenge. Going through months of chemotherapy treatments was difficult for her, but she approached every session with energy and positivity. I was amazed and promised her I would carry this same energy, optimism, and enthusiasm into my life & more specifically my final year of collegiate basketball. I worked as hard as I ever did during this preseason to get in the best shape of my life and was playing very well. November 6, 2018 was the opening game of this season. I was so excited to play for my mom and had the best game of my collegiate career that night. Seeing her in the stands was a moment I would never forget and will cherish for the rest of my life. She had crushed chemotherapy treatments and I was so eager to have an amazing season for her. However, just two games later, I went down with a season ending injury. I blew out my left ankle. I could not believe something like this could happen after seeing my mom battle for months on end and promising her that I would have the greatest season ever. I didn’t want to accept the fact I wouldn’t be able to play for the rest of the season. I felt like I was letting her down. But after seeing my mom’s attitude and fight as she went through her chemotherapy treatments and multiple surgeries, I knew I had to carry this same energy in my journey through recovery and rehab. It was just another challenge for us to overcome. After over a year of recovery, hard work, and rehab, I was back on the court, mom in the stands, and playing my final season of collegiate basketball again.
I have learned so much from my mother’s fight and vow every day to work hard and make her proud. As my collegiate career came to an end May 2020, I searched for a way to make her even more proud. I felt lost, for a lack of better words, with not being able to show her how much I have learned from her and how much I appreciate her and what she has gone through. The challenge that people who fight this battle is like no other. After watching Nick’s documentary together and shedding some tears, I knew I had to do something like this for her and for all of those who are and have been affected by this horrible disease. I immediately signed up for an Ironman. Why not take on one of the most challenging endurance events in the world? I had never had done a triathlon before let alone even knew anything about endurance events in general. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into but vowed to do whatever possible to get to that finish line. We knew Ironmans would be difficult, but after she went through, anything is possible…
Fast forward to now (May 2022), I am now a year and almost a half into endurance sports & have completed 3 triathlons.
Olympic Triathlon: 0.93-mile swim, 24.8-mile bike, and 6.2-mile run:
- 6/12/2021: Pocono Olympic Tri 2:35:10: 10 th Overall, 2 nd Age Group
Ironman Triathlons: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run - 11/6/2021: Ironman Florida: 9:46:51: 39 th Overall: 1 st Age Group
- 05/07/2022: 2021 Ironman World Championship St. George, Utah: 10:15:15: 164 th
Overall: 13 th Age Group
Over this short span, I have learned so much and have met many great people who have helped me get to where I am today. Thank you to my family, friends, & SI Elite for all the support along the way. Wouldn’t be where I am without you. Looking forward to what the future holds!
