Just over a year after losing her leg in a devastating shark attack, Ali Truwit is amazed to call herself a Paralympian.
“That feels crazy, especially just thinking about where I was a little over a year ago,” Truwit, 24, told NBC News’ Emilie Ikeda in an interview that aired Aug. 23 on the 3rd hour of TODAY.
Truwit, who previously competed on Yale University's swim team, was attacked by a shark as she snorkeled with a former teammate in the Turks and Caicos Islands as part of a trip to celebrate her college graduation.
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“A shark came up and started attacking us and aggressively bumping us and ramming us from underneath, and we fought back and shoved and kicked, but pretty quickly it got my leg in its mouth,” she explained. “And the next thing I knew, it had bitten off my foot and part of my leg.”
“So we made the split-second decision to swim for our lives, roughly 75 yards in the open ocean water back to the boat,” she added.
Truwit underwent multiple blood transfusions and surgeries, including amputation, and she said it wasn’t easy adjusting to her new reality.
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“I remember I left the hospital, and I asked my parents to put all of my shorts and short skirts and short dresses away and give them away," she said.
"I didn’t want anyone to see my prosthetic leg,” she added.
She eventually returned to the pool as part of her rehabilitation, and her former coach, Jamie Barone, came out of retirement to help Truwit with her recovery.
“Without hesitation, she’s the hardest worker I’ve ever met,” Barone told TODAY.
“If at any point in time she had texted me or called me and said, ‘You know what, I’m just going to curl up in a ball today, and I’m going to cry.’ Everyone in the world would be like, ‘That checks out. You take the day, you do whatever,’” he explained. “Not once. She has never once missed a day of practice.”
Truwit may have initially returned to the water to work on her recovery, but before long, she set her sights on even bigger goals.
She returned to competing that year, medaling in the U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Championships in December 2023. And a few months later, she qualified for the Paralympics.
Her mom, Jody Truwit, says witnessing her daughter’s determination has taught her to be “fearless.”
“I think this whole year has been her facing one fear after another,” she told TODAY. “And I think a lesson for all of us in our family is just, don’t let fear rule you. Just fight it.”
Truwit will compete in the women's 400m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke events at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, which begin Aug. 28.
Everyone at home will be rooting for her, including Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who recently designated Aug. 28, 2024, as Ali Truwit Day.
As she prepares for her first Paralympics, Truwit reflected on her journey over the past year.
“I’m unique in that I was attacked by a shark, but I’m not unique in that we all go through hardship and trauma and tough times in life and we all have the capacity to rise back up,” she said.
This article first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
