Saturday, April 6, 2013

The Athlete


The Athlete

 Famed swimmer Diana Nyad was once a student at Emory University, but was expelled for jumping out of a fourth-floor dormitory window wearing a parachute, an incident which proved a fairly accurate forecast of her future career. In 1979, she swam from Bimini to Florida and in doing so snatched the world record for long distance swimming sans wetsuit.  It is a record that still stands today.  She holds another record for swimming around Manhattan Island.  It took her seven hours and fifty seven minutes to do so.  In spite of these phenomenal feats, since turning sixty (sixty?!) Nyad has thrice attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida only to be hampered by lightning storms and jelly fish stings that caused a flare-up of her asthma.  (Asthma?!)  

In the 1996 Summer Olympics, tiny gymnast, Kerri Strug, helped her team win gold by famously performing a second vault despite having severely injured her ankle during her first one.  Needing to land on both feet to secure her team its medal, she limped to the end of the runway, ran like the wind to the vault, jumped, twirled and twisted high in the air and did indeed land on both feet, though instantly hopping onto one as she saluted the judges.  The gold medal secure, Strug was carried off the mat and straight to hospital.

Having been born without an athletic gene in my body, I find this pertinacious focus, this sheer physicality, really quite remarkable.  Individuals with this type of wiring ignore obstacles that would turn me right around.  They push through pain that would send me, whining, back to bed.  Every single day, I witness a version of this plucky athleticism up close.  Not in the mirror, mind you, but in the indefatigable spirit of Edward’s best friend, Apple.  

She’d only been ours for a couple of weeks before she shocked us by climbing up an oak tree after a cat.  She runs full out, a black furry flash streaking cross the back garden any time a squirrel even considers a trespassing foray inside her domain.  Unlike Edward, who saunters along on walks like a gentleman in a park on Sunday afternoon, Apple pulls The Songwriter along at a clip, straining at the leash as if on an urgent mission the nature of which only she is aware.  She sleeps soundly each night, on her back, utterly exhausted by her own endurance.  However, like the aforementioned athletes above, sometimes such dauntlessness brings with it a risk for physical injury absent in the more sedentary lives of those fireside types like Edward and myself.

So here I sit, writing this tribute as Apple is, at this very moment, in surgery to repair a torn ligament in her knee.  A burst of speed, a violent pivot, all in pursuit of the dreaded squirrel.  She limped in last week on three paws.  X-rays.  Diagnosis.  Surgery.  We are grateful a procedure exists to repair this injury. We are grateful that our vet is an orthopedic specialist.  We are grateful that her prognosis is good.  She should be back to normal, God help us all, in three months.  But oh, those three months.  No running, no jumping.  No rough-housing with Edward.  But we’ll get her through it.  

There is no more strenuous Olympic event than the heptathlon consisting as it does of seven (!) extraordinary physical challenges rolled into one.  Shot put, javelin throw, hurdles. Long jumps, high jumps, races.  Last year in London, the gold medal for this event was won by Britain’s Jessica Ennis who had, only four years earlier, suffered a broken ankle that threatened to end her chances completely.  But following rest, rehabilitation, and that sheer determination unique to the athlete, the gold was hers.  I’ll tell Apple all about Jessica when she comes home tomorrow.

24 comments:

  1. Do hope Apple will be alright...lots of hugs sent to her.

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  2. Oh...poor Apple. So glad that she is expected to have a full recovery. I know what it's like to live with a dog that is hell bent on hurting himself. My Newman who I loved more than anything on this earth...I was always saying..."No, Newman...No...you are going to hurt yourself." And he did so many times.

    Sometimes its impossible to keep them safe.

    I'll be anxious to hear how Apple is doing. Hopefully, she'll have sense to take it easy till she is well.

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  3. Poor Apple. My friend had a poodle, Lola, who used to run so hard her paws would bleed. Please give Apple a big hugs and best wishes from me.

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  4. Please give Apple my best wishes for a speedy healing

    Thank you for such a lovely and inspirational post. I think if we all look back far enough, we might recall a small moment, a toothache, waiting for Santa, being on stage, something endurably ours.

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  5. I'll just bet that Apple recuperates in the same manner she approaches the rest of life:-)

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  6. Sad to hear she hurt herself;
    glad to know her spirit through your writing...how she and Edward compliment each other! It might take longer than 3 months maybe but you all will get through it I know, in flying colors ;)

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  7. To Apple a full and complete recovery, so she can go back to the fast paced, high risk, fun life she loves. No wonder why she sleeps great at night. I can only wish....:)

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  8. My beautiful dog Maddie tore a knee ligament at the end of November. Since it was the holidays, we put her on anti-inflammatories and postponed surgery until the New Year. (She had to go to a specialist out of town.) In January, she tore the other knee and had to have surgery on one knee immediately since she could hardly walk. We kept her confined to a room with carpet but somehow, we still have no idea how, she bent the steel plate holding her newly aligned knee and had to have the surgery again. She has now been confined to a crate for a month. And when she gets the all clear on this knee she'll have to have the other one done. More confinement, and yes, a three month healing period before she can go on a normal walk. The funny thing is, she's not a tremendous athlete, doesn't chase squirrels or chipmunks, nor is she overweight. She's very calm and serene and she tore each knee when she was doing a gentle lope across the grass, hardly a sprint. We're dreading having to go through the surgery again and she does not understand why she has to be shut in a cage, but has born it with infinite patience. Please don't listen to Apple when she says she really needs to get out and nose around. And don't let Edward playfully bump her, though he's undoubtedly too much of a gentleman for that. For the first month, especially, keep her activity strictly limited. Wishing her an easy recovery.

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  9. Oh, Pamela, what a fun story. I'm with you, that determination and spirit must be planted while still in womb! Poor Apple, I hope she allows herself the downtime to recuperate.
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    Karen

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  10. Wishing for a speedy recovery for Apple! She is lucky she has such a kind family.

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  11. Pamela,

    I am so sorry to hear about Apple, I do hope that she heals well and is not too distressed from her confinement.

    My dachshund broke her leg a few years ago and was only allowed to walk if she had to go out. The little scamp figured out fairly early that that was her ticket to fun. She could putter outside for 20 minutes...

    Don't fall for their little tricks.

    My prayers are with the sweet apple.

    Elizabeth

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  12. What a worry. Apple is getting older and, as I have noticed in myself, it is so much easier to do damage to oneself with movements one never had any trouble with.
    I do wish Apple and all four of you the best of British.

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  13. Thanks for everyone's good wishes! Apple came through surgery like a champ and is now resting comfortably. The technician who is with her is calling us every two hours with updates. She's sleeping soundly, as usual! Coming home tomorrow.
    xo, Pamela

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  14. Being the sedentary sort myself (sedentary?? More like comatose!) I have never understood how athletes push through the pain or more, why they do this to themselves. I can more nearly understand Kerri S., after all it was the Olympics. Still when I saw her run flat-out, throw herself in the air, and then come down with her full weight on both feet, I could feel her pain even though I was no where near where she was! No one could ever say she didn't give her all! I have broken bones in my lifetime, but oh my goodness, I can't even come close to imagining how much that must have hurt! I guess it was offset by accomplishing her goal. As for me, there isn't anything that I have ever wanted THAT much! :)

    As for Apple, poor puppy!! I'm glad the surgery went well and that she should make a full recovery! How ever in the world will you keep such an active dog quiet for three whole months??? That's going to be a real challenge, I think! Good luck to you and to Apple!

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  15. Poor Apple, with a character like that I am sure she will recover in no time at all. Oooo, those pesky squirrels!

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  16. Poor Apple.
    Emory was never noted for its sense of humour and jumping from a fourth floor window with a parachut might would fall in the stern rebuke category !

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  17. From our house to yours; Tor, Willow and Tucker send Apple their love. May she heal quickly!

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  18. Licks to Apple from Tess and hugs from me Pamela. If there is one thing worse than being ill yourself it is seeing your dog ill - do hope Apple is a good patient.

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  19. Do hope Apple returns home to you in good spirits, poor girl she's plucky to try climbing trees!
    I hope by the time you read this that the worrying time for you is over and she is back with you, sore but on the mend. One of our cats had to have three teeth removed this week so I know just how concerning it can be when you realise they have to have an anaesthetic.
    Cor! that athlete is fantastic and all with asthma too. Like you I too don't seem to have been inoculated with the sporty gene, but I don't half admire those who push on through pain and torture to win medals!

    Hugs, Jane

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  20. Best wishes and prayers for Apple !

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  21. Apple, sorry for what you have been through the last few days. I am so grateful that you will be well soon and be going about your daily life as if nothing ever happened. You might think twice about running after furry things in your yard.

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  22. oh my heart smiled.
    then i laughed.
    the more i looked at apple's picture the happier i felt.
    you so seldom write about little apple that it's like hearing about a special guest almost! and all the more cherished for that.
    i bet since they're best friends ~ edward will gallantly see her through this.
    great love coming her way!
    if she only knew all her admirers!
    xo

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  23. Dear sweet Apple. I know she'll be fine. It is you I'm worried about as I know the heartache and tender mercies you'll be ministering till she's better. I think the hardest part is keeping her still.

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  24. Thankfully you had the right vet to ensure Apple will be chasing those squirrels again before you know it - well after the 3 months have passed! How will you keep her down and still? Best of luck, and tell Edward to be gentle when he plays.

    Hugs - Mary

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I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!