Last year was life-changing for U.S. Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit. She graduated from Yale University, wrapping up a successful collegiate swimming career, and headed to Turks and Caicos in May for a vacation with close friend Sophie Pilkinton.
But what was meant to be a celebratory trip changed in the blink of an eye.
“A shark came up and started attacking us and aggressively bumping us and ramming us from underneath,” Truwit recalled in an interview. “And we fought back, shoved and kicked, but pretty quickly it got my leg in its mouth, and the next thing I knew, it had bitten off my foot and part of my leg.”
When nobody could hear their cries for help, survival instincts kicked in.
“We made the split-second decision to swim for our lives,” Truwit said. “Roughly 75 yards in the open ocean water back to the boat.”
Once Truwit and Pilkinton made it onto their boat safely, Pilkinton stopped the bleeding on Truwit’s leg by tying a tourniquet, helping save her life. Truwit was eventually airlifted to a Miami hospital, where she underwent multiple lifesaving operations before her leg was surgically amputated.
Despite her harrowing experience, Truwit was determined to get back to the pool — even though she realized the challenge of processing her new reality.
“I remember I left the hospital and I asked my parents to put all of my shorts and short skirts and short dresses away because I didn’t want anyone to see my prosthetic leg,” she said. “The emptying in this space has exposed me to so much and given me so much of my confidence back.”
Truwit said she restored her confidence thanks to an army of supporters, including family members, longtime Paralympians who reached out about their own experiences and close friends, such as five-time Olympic medalist Kate Douglass, who trains with Truwit.
Truwit’s former coach, who has known her since she was 12 years old, even came out of retirement to support her recovery.
Truwit is “the hardest worker I’ve ever met,” coach Jamie Barone said. “If at any point in time she texted me or called me and said, ‘I’m just going to curl up in a ball today and I’m going to cry,’ everyone in the world would say, ‘That checks out.’ You take the day, you do whatever ... not once. She has never once missed a day of practice.”
Truwit’s resiliency catapulted her to some of her best performances in the pool. By the end of last year, she had successfully competed in swimming nationals and the Paralympic swimming trials, qualifying with a time of 1:08.98.
“The Para movement basically gave [Truwit] a recovery runway,” said her mother, Jody Truwit. “I think she’s teaching me to be fearless. But I think this whole year has been her facing one fear after another. And I think a lesson for all of us in our family is don’t let fear rule you — just fight it.”
Now, just 15 months after the attack, Truwit is heading to Paris, where she will compete in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle and the 100-meter backstroke at the Paralympic Games.
“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,” Truwit said. “We all have the capacity to rise back up.”
