Wendy Garrett lives by one mantra: “Life is tough, but I am tougher.”
And if anyone knows how to be tough, it’s Garrett. Writes Megan Christensen, from the Deseret News
Garrett practiced endurance at a young age when she started taking gymnastics at 6 years old.
When she turned 23, she gained a passion for running.
“Running gave me a goal,” said Garrett, who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I was used to having a goal in gymnastics and having an outlet. It was my therapy.”
Garrett started small, but eventually worked up to running marathons, competing in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. She eventually relocated to Bermuda, where she was a gymnastics coach for three years.
One day, on her way to work, her life shifted 180 degrees.
“Everyone drives motorized scooters in Bermuda, and one day I was heading to work and a car pulled in front of me,” Garrett said. “I hit it, and the bike came down and landed on me. We weren't going fast, so it didn't seem like anything major. But immediately I couldn't move my left foot at all and I had back and neck pain.”
The accident landed her in a walking boot and sent her home to Portland, Oregon, to live with her parents and focus on getting well. Two and a half years, 25 specialists and zero marathons later, Garrett still didn’t have any answers for her health ailments. In addition to major back and neck pain, she had no movement in her lower left leg and remained in a walking boot.
“I went from doctor to doctor and everyone seemed to have a different opinion,” Garrett said. “I tried neurologists, the top research hospital in Portland, massage therapy, chiropractors, acupuncture and a little of everything. My whole life was on hold.”
It was around that time that Garrett’s aunt and uncle were called on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Nauvoo, Illinois.
Aware of Garrett’s circumstances, the couple asked her to house-sit at their Orem home for the 18 months they would be serving. A relocation to Utah turned out to be the best medicine.
“I was at the point where I said I’d find one more doctor and then I’d be done and try to figure a way to adapt to (the circumstance),” Garrett said. “I finally found the doctor I needed in Provo.”
Her new doctor performed the same tests the other doctors had, but was the first to discover an injury to her spinal cord caused from whiplash.
“He was the first person who told me I could be fitted for an orthotic so I could wear shoes and be active again,” Garrett said. “No doctor for two and a half years had mentioned that.”
On March 28th, 2013, Garrett ran her first steps in more than three years.
Her passion for running was once again ignited, but she knew the orthotic would be expensive. So she designed and sold bracelets that sported the words of her mantra.
“Everybody has a story, whether they're fighting cancer or trying to quit smoking, and a lot of people told me my story helped them,” Garrett said. “I paid for my first orthotic by selling those bracelets all over the world and a lot of cool people with different stories bought them.”
The month after her first run, Garrett ran her first post-accident 5K at her cousin’s school. She yearned to run another marathon, but knew she had to build up endurance. So she added a half-mile to her running routine every week.
In June 2013, she ran the Utah Valley half marathon, earning first place in the mobility-impaired category.
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