Ali Truwit: American swimmer wins silver medal 16 months after losing her leg in shark attack

CNN
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After losing her leg in a shark attack just 16 months ago, Ali Truwit celebrated a brilliant return to swimming by winning a medal at the Paralympics.

Her remarkable comeback culminated on Thursday night when Truwit took the silver medal in the women's S10 400-meter freestyle, setting a new American record with a time of 4:31.39.

“For me, this is a full-circle moment and it shows how much support I have around me,” she told reporters after the race. “When you're really faced with death and understanding what a second chance at life means, you want to make the most of it.”

While swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands, the former Yale competitive swimmer was attacked by a shark in May 2023. After fending off the animal, she swam 70 meters to a boat before being flown to the hospital by helicopter.

“I think it was survival instinct. It was a terrible day, I have terrible memories of it. It was shocking, terrifying, but I'm alive, I'm here and I'm going to make the best of it,” Truwit said.

Doctors managed to save her life by performing three operations and eventually amputating her left leg just below the knee.

Although she continued to suffer from a fear of water, the 24-year-old reconnected with her old coach James Barone in September 2023, according to The Guardian. The following month, less than six months after the attack, she took part in her first para-competition.

For Truwit, it's less about overcoming her fear than learning to live with it.

“Every day I learn something new that brings back a new memory of the attack, because I was conscious the whole time,” she said.

“Honestly, in the beginning, I thought I would overcome the fear and that would be it. I've learned on this journey that this journey doesn't look like that. That there will be days when it's great and there will be days when I have to fight to get that love back,” she continued.

“But I would say that right now I feel 90:10 really comfortable and happy in the water and I'm grateful to be there.”

The swimmer would not have been able to reach this point without the people around her. Two of her friends who were with her that day in May 2023 were at the La Défense arena in Paris on Thursday evening.

“Sophie, who was in the water with me and put the tourniquet on my leg and saved my life, is in the stands, as is Hannah, who was in medical school at the trauma hospital where I was flown by helicopter,” Truwit said after the race. “I'm so lucky for them and everyone else in the stands.”

She also thanked her family, saying, “I think my parents have done an incredible job of raising me and my three brothers to be adaptable people who try to see the positive in life and appreciate everything we have been given.

“When faced with life-changing trauma, I worked on seeing the positive, focusing on gratitude, and letting it carry me through.”