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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Marathon marks final mile in journey toward recovery
Carolyn Wonneck will be running 10 kilometres at the Manitoba Marathon with a racing prosthetic. (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ) Photo Store
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It's been a comeback in the making. Almost three years to be exact.
Come Sunday -- when 19-year-old Carolyn Wonneck steps up to the starting line to begin the 10-kilometre race in this year's Manitoba Marathon -- there will be two words running through her mind.
"I'm back," Wonneck said in a recent interview at her Fort Richmond home, which she shares with parents Beth and Ron and her older brother, Paul. "By running this race, it says I'm recovered, I'm better now and that nothing's changed."
In July 2009, just three weeks after completing the half marathon, Wonneck suffered a fall while on a climbing wall at a summer camp where she worked as a counsellor. The safety harness, which was not properly attached, gave way, sending Wonneck nine metres to the ground. The result was two broken legs and a fractured right wrist. A circulation problem in her right leg eventually led to infection. Doctors decided the safest thing to do was to amputate from the knee down.
"The accident made me realize how valuable life can be," said Wonneck, who just completed her second year of sciences at the University of Manitoba. "I mean, not many people can say they fell three storeys and survived with just an amputation.
"Through my accident, I've seen a lot of hope. I've seen the pain and I've felt the pain, but I know there's ways to get through it."
After the accident, Wonneck was given the difficult task of learning how to walk again. The muscles in her leg were badly damaged and had to go through rigorous physiotherapy. She also knew the getting her old strength back was not guaranteed.
"I think a lot of people do give up when something like this happens to them," she said. "But there's always hope and I just thought, 'There's lots of people that go through this, so don't give up, there's always a way.'"
That way came in part from a carbon-fibre artificial leg she received from her doctor last winter. The other part: Wonneck's motivation and strong desire to prove she was back. Her hard work paid off when she was able to run again.
"I've learned I can do anything I put my mind to and I have put my mind to this," she said. ""I'm going to be really excited [come race time].
"Just being able to show myself and other people that I've got a sweet leg and it doesn't make me any better or any different than anyone else."
When asked if she plans to run in the race again after completing the comeback, Wonneck smiled, "Oh yeah, I want to see if I can do that half again."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 16, 2012 A4
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