The first step for swimmer Ali Truwit was overcoming her fear of the one place she'd always felt safe—the water. Having just graduated Yale, she and a friend were snorkeling off Turks and Caicos on May 24, 2023, when a shark charged and bit Truwit's lower left leg. "My immediate thought was, 'Am I crazy or do I not have a foot right now?'" Truwit says. "It was a really hard image for me. But you move immediately into action." Bleeding and with the shark circling, Truwit went into competitive swim mode and raced 75 yards toward the safety of the boat. She was rushed to the hospital and airlifted to the United States, where she had three surgeries, including one to amputate her leg below the knee. "A lot of dark days," she tells the AP. "But I'm alive and I almost wasn't."
Starting in her family's backyard pool, Truwit began a plunge that put her on a path to the Paralympics—and not Los Angeles in 2028. "I love comeback stories," says the 24-year-old from Darien, Connecticut, who qualified for Paris in the 100 free, 400 free, and the 100 back. The Truwit family has a mantra—"Work works." That's why Truwit went to rehab even on days when she didn't feel good or was sad. She went through prosthetic training and strength exercises. She also worked with trauma therapists, which led to narrative therapy to reauthor her life and combat her nightmares. About 3 1/2 months removed from the attack, she was competing again. It was early but necessary to make certain standards for a Paralympic spot.
"She's just basically a workhorse who refuses to give up," says her mom, Jody. "That's who she was before the attack and amputation and that's who she is every single day now." At US Paralympic trials in Minneapolis in late June, she won the 100 backstroke, 400 free, and 100 free. "A year ago, I was just working to get back in the water," says Truwit, who launched the "Stronger Than You Think" foundation to help others navigate the healing process. "I now get back in the water and that sense of joy comes back, and the smile comes back. To have that again is something I'm so thankful for."
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