Kathleen Putmane at the Danskin Women’s Triathlon in Chicago

Success Story: Kathleen Putman
By Jennifer Sader, foreword by Kathleen Daelemans

A tragic accident left Kathleen Putman clinging to life. Her tremendous spirit fueled her comeback.

Kathleen Putman's not your average Cooking Thin Weight Loss Success Story. In fact, I have no idea how much she's lost. But I know how much I've gained reading about her will to live, her determination to succeed and her fighting spirit. Witnessing her comeback from the sidelines is a privilege. I can only imagine what it felt like to be at the finish line when she crossed it on crutches with her wheelchair in tow. Humbling comes to mind. Her story is our gift. Read it, learn from it, draw inspiration from it and grow. Repeat. Or don't. The choice is yours.

Last year I reported on a race that a group of friends and I did in honor of Kathleen Putman, a fellow triathlete struck by a car two years ago while biking and injured so seriously she had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat, and even breathe because of the damage to her neck and spinal cord.

Doctors had to keep her unconscious at first because of the severity of her injuries. No one knew at first whether she would even live. But Kathleen was a fighter, and said all along, she was sure she'd race again. Her battered body still had a triathlete's muscles and a competitor's spirit. Thoughts of racing pulled her through the long recovery process. She began training to race again as soon as she could. Physical therapists were impressed at the speed of her recovery.

Kathleen didn't get the Hallmark-perfect happy ending. She still is, and according to doctors, may always be physically limited by her injuries. But she doesn't see it that way. She chooses to focus on what she can do instead of things she can't.

A year ago, her goal was to get herself well enough to travel to Chicago to watch Team Kathleen (a group of Internet-message-board buddies committed to supporting her recovery) race in her honor. This time around (just two years after her accident) she decided she was ready to race on her own behalf. As soon as she posted her intentions to race in the Danskin Women's Triathlon on the message boards, Team Kathleen members made plans to join her.

A triathlon is a three-part race: a swim, a bicycle ride, and a run. Usually it's performed by a single person, but some races also allow three people to perform the race as a relay with one person swimming, one biking, and one running. Kathleen had originally planned to do the entire race, but for safety reasons, she and the race directors decided it would be better for her to participate as part of a relay team. Kathleen's goal was to walk the 5K "run" portion of the event on her crutches.

We decided to have a second relay team as her support group. I participated as the swimmer on the second team. After my swim across Lake Andrea, I would be able to focus all of my attention and energy on supporting Kathleen. The team two "runner" would walk just behind Kathleen with her wheelchair in case she needed to rest or ride out the run. Other people from our group planned to race on their own wearing their Team Kathleen uniforms and meet up with us after they finished.

The weekend leading up to the race was fun, but a little tense. All of us worried about how Kathleen would feel if she couldn't walk the distance. We knew it would take Kathleen hours to walk the three-mile distance on crutches, and even though we knew how hard she'd been working and how badly she wanted to reach her goal, none of us knew if that would be enough.

On race day, Kathleen didn't entertain a single doubt. As soon as her teammates returned from the swim and bike, she enthusiastically embarked on her 5K walk with the wheelchair in tow. Team Kathleen members followed alongside the race course, cheering her on. The wheelchair, there for when she became too tired and weak to walk, came in very handy as a cart for all of the bags and gear the rest of us had with us. She certainly didn't need it. She didn't even look at it. She walked slowly but purposefully. As other women walked or ran by, they patted her on the back, high-fived, and hugged her. All along the way we got cheers from other racers and spectators who could tell what a victory it was for Kathleen to be walking so far on crutches. The guy with his jaw dropped down to his chin who could only shake his head in shock and amazement and muster, "Wow" as he sat sweating in one of the few patches of available shade, was her single favorite spectator reaction.

It was a cloudless day and the sun beat down on our heads mercilessly. We were all hot, tired, and thirsty. Knowing how tired we were drove home how tough Kathleen was out on the course. She never complained. She never stopped smiling.

As we approached the finish, a little girl of no more than 2 or 3 pointed at Kathleen and tugged on her mother's arm. "Yes, Hannah," her mother said, obviously surprised and choked up, "She has crutches like yours. Someday, you could do that!" That's when we noticed the little girl's leg braces. There wasn't a dry eye in our group as the little girl walked the rest of the way with us holding her mother's hands for support. "I can't tell you how much it means to her and I to see you accomplish this," she told Kathleen.

The finish line moment was exciting—the crowd went wild as we all crossed it, Kathleen in front, with her wheelchair full of junk behind her. Kathleen seemed to have enjoyed every moment of the 2 hours, 48 minutes, and 27 seconds it took her to do the walk. On her first race since the accident Kathleen had this to say, "There were so many special moments, but meeting Hannah and having her race alongside me was awesome. It's amazing how God uses us to touch each others lives." 

Epilogue
Kathleen's training for her next race. This time, she's doing the whole triathlon herself. No one who witnessed her performance this summer dare doubts that she will.

For more information on the Danskin Women’s Triathlon series, a series of races known for being supportive and beginner-friendly, check out http://www.danskin.com/danskinonline/triathlon.html

Jennifer Sader is a freelance writer, part-time doctoral student and recreational athlete. She has completed several sprint and international distance triathlons and three half-marathons. Her next goal is to do the Columbus Marathon. She is supported in all her endeavors by her wonderful husband of ten years, Jesse Squire, who inspired her to do her first competitive event, a 5K run, at the ripe old age of 20. Email Jennifer Sader: jensader@yahoo.com

Photo: András