UNBREAKABLE BONDS Samantha & Katie Eddington

[00:00:00] Welcome to today's special episode of the Amped Up211 Podcast, where we dive into the incredible journey of Samantha and Katie Eddington. A dynamic mother-daughter duo making waves in the world of prosthetics and amputee support.

[00:00:16] Samantha and Katie have cultivated their personal experiences to champion the cause of 50 legs, a remarkable organization providing prosthetic limbs to those in need. After a life-changing lawnmower accident and 12 grueling surgeries, Katie made the brave decision to

[00:00:35] amputator leg above the knee. Together, Samantha and Katie have engaged various fundraising events, including the highly successful Katie's ride, a car rally that brings the community together to support this vital cause. Their story is a testament to resilience, community spirit, and the profound impact of giving back.

[00:01:07] Welcome, welcome, welcome, Samantha and Katie, Eddington. It's so good to see you! Thank you, good morning. Good morning, yes it is morning. This is a first in a couple different ways. Number one, it's early. We're doing an early taping today because people have things to do. We're busy

[00:01:26] and we gotta get this in and I appreciate you guys taking the time. I really do and the other reason it's a first is because you two are my very very first mother, daughter,

[00:01:42] interview. How about that? Nice! Thanks for having me appreciate it. Yeah, it's actually something that I've been sort of processing on thinking about, man, it'd be really neat to have them come in with something that we had kicked around before. I guess I finally got up the courage

[00:02:08] to ask Samantha, hey do you think we could do something like that? Of course, you guys are fortunately for the community. I feel like you're pretty transparent. You put yourself out there, your story, your journey has been pretty well documented. I know, I mean, I follow both of

[00:02:30] you and in some ways Katie, I feel like it's strange as it sounds, I'm kind of like watching you grow up a little bit and I was talking to someone the other day and they said something to me

[00:02:46] that resonated, they said well you never really know who you're inspiring, right? Because of social media, because of the way things work nowadays, we're kind of living our lives in this transparent way, especially when we're part of a community and we don't really know who's tuning in, right?

[00:03:08] Because followers tend to be, I guess in a couple different classes, some are very overt, right? They reach out. They want to connect. They want to speak. They want to engage. And then we have

[00:03:25] those very covert kind of people, right? They're just sort of like on the sidelines, sort of witnessing, sort of spectating while we go through this journey that we're all on, especially in this

[00:03:39] community. So for me, that's been very much a thing of not only from the charity functions, but also the both of you, this sort of dynamic duo kind of idea that I space that I see you both in.

[00:03:58] I think the first thing I want to ask Samantha is gosh, like how do you do it all? Because there are times where I'm just dizzy from looking at your your your feed and all the things that you

[00:04:19] engage professionally in the charity space events with Katie, the traveling, the this, the that. I mean, what would you say to someone that wants to live that full of a life? Like how do you

[00:04:37] you juggle it all? Well, it wasn't deliberate. You know, my life was not always this busy up until Katie's accident in 2013. And then as she started to recover, it just seemed like

[00:04:56] things just kept getting thrown our way and you just didn't want to turn it down. Like I didn't really seek out for this to happen this way any of it really most of it kind of just landed in our

[00:05:07] lab. And I hate to you know, stay away and brace it but that was that was kind of how it was. We just really didn't want to turn anything down. So just about everything that seemed like a good plan

[00:05:22] we've done it. And so we just, you know, you just keep doing whatever comes before you because you don't want to miss out on something that may help somebody else or may help further what Katie's

[00:05:33] goals are or, you know, whatever it is that I had hoped for her. We've had just so so many opportunities that came up and so I just kind of keep, um, trudging along and it just seems to have worked out

[00:05:47] but it's very busy. The charity aspect was something additional that I didn't see coming and so that's been a big task but, you know we've been involved with with the 50 likes charity for

[00:06:01] caught some time and you know one of the kids look up to Katie so you can't you don't really want to slow down on that because sometimes it's very important to do that.

[00:06:12] I think you're right it's what I consider to be like a momentum kind of issue. Yeah. And you know, I chuckle a bit when you say what I didn't really choose this because so much of the

[00:06:27] circumstances around the podcast and some of the success that we've had it just sort of just happened right? Right. Because for me my purpose is was I wanted to be able to engage my heroes.

[00:06:46] I wanted to be able to speak to the people I was following. It wasn't enough for me to just sort of, you know look at their photos and look at their videos and draw a strength from that.

[00:07:00] I felt like it was such a huge inspiration and sort of a vibration in the sense of I wanted to kind of experience that in real time like and make that connection. So that was

[00:07:16] in a lot of ways just very self-serving at first and then suddenly you know like you say like things just kind of get a life of their own going. So for me it was okay now there's all these people

[00:07:31] following and people deeming you and sending you email and and then I have these sort of weird sort of epiphanys about like hey I don't know everything. Suddenly I'm like this expert

[00:07:46] and I have to remind people I came to this not even knowing what a podcast was. Right. When someone told me you should do a podcast my response was what's a podcast. Yeah so

[00:08:02] you know to end up in this position it's a little it's a little strange at times but it still allows me to connect with people like yourself to finally meet Katie who I have been

[00:08:16] following who I'm just you know blown away by which she represents in the community and it's so nice to hear the influence that she's having you know on people younger you know then herself and that's such a great mission right it's it it really takes something that

[00:08:42] for most people when they think about an amputation as a result of a lawnmower accident most people go to that very very dark space immediately like oh it's it's a tragedy it's it's horrible it's it's sort of like life crushing and life ending and all these things

[00:09:04] and to see what has occurred right what that catalyst represents in your lives is just it's it's it's proof that the human spirit is incredible like the power that we have

[00:09:22] as human beings to take something like that and turn it into what you have to enrich your lives and rich the lives of other people it's it's it's awe inspiring you know and that carries a lot

[00:09:36] of weight I mean Katie if you can answer this that does that ever feel like a lot of responsibility you know because you're you're an influencer because you know people look up to you

[00:09:53] when you hear someone say that to you like hey like you know you really inspire me and and you know I got you know I walked across the room today because you know I saw something that you did

[00:10:07] and it it put me in the right head space you know it recalibrated my thinking how does that make you feel on the daily so honestly whenever I first got in the track I mean I was like just as

[00:10:24] young as these kids were so I didn't have like a specific person they'll look up to so it's really nice for them to know that they have at least somebody to look up to and it doesn't even

[00:10:35] really start with one aid group I mean whenever I used to run all these five case people give me bracelets like say I'm inspiring I am and I never really understood that until I got to put in the aspect where

[00:10:48] I was helping younger kids because I mean I was like why are these kids like adore me like I barely did anything but I mean I'd help them at the track and it was just really nice because like

[00:11:00] I mean they feel just like I did like they didn't feel normal until they got in a bigger group of MTTs and then they're like oh I don't have to live my life and feel so out of place

[00:11:12] so it was it was really nice to show them a different kind of chapter to their life yeah no that's that's really really it's really beautiful I I feel like so much of your experience as an MTT has created you know a significant amount of wisdom

[00:11:36] a significant amount of life experience at a very young age because let's face it I mean most kids you know that don't go through something like that that's so transformative don't really ever get to experience having that kind of influence over people around them

[00:11:57] you're just sort of living your life and doing what you can to be the best person you can be and you're learning along the way but to suddenly be thrust into that position of responsibility

[00:12:09] and accountability and realizing that what you do is affecting others in such a positive way I would think on the one hand can kind of mess with you a little bit like you're describing

[00:12:24] we were like why is everyone making such a big deal but at the same time as you get older and you see the results because I'm sure even even given that you're very young still

[00:12:39] you've seen some people grow in this space you've seen some people you know young people go through tremendous amount of change and improvement and made huge gains right as people in

[00:12:56] this community I want to talk about 50 legs a little bit you know we we had the good fortune of interviewing Steve gosh I want to say maybe a year ago something like that maybe in the

[00:13:12] 2022 I don't remember oh was it 22 okay he was one of the earliest ones that you had on his this is going quick man yes yeah yeah I just I happen to go on your website yesterday and

[00:13:23] scroll back and he was like one of the first not one's year be it was he really wow yeah and you were so accommodating in that situation and I so appreciated that because I think you

[00:13:33] had said something like well Steve doesn't know technology like he doesn't know what he's doing you said you're like I'll just handle it for him like I'm like who is Samantha like she's incredible

[00:13:46] like she set it all up and and then I what I recall about that day two is I got stuck in traffic number one I was I was racing to the studio and because Steve was in Florida yeah he had the time wrong

[00:14:06] right so we yeah we were like two ships about to pass each other in the night yeah and I think in the in the in the 11th hour I realized like oh no he's he's been you know he's

[00:14:22] ready to go I'm not even at the studio yet and Samantha you would have died laughing at this call so I got him on the phone and Steve's Steve's such a sweetheart it was so funny because he kept

[00:14:35] calling me little brother he's like how are you doing little brother and and I said I'm like Steve I'm just just imagine me dropping to my knees right now and begging you not to cancel this interview

[00:14:49] please please please help me and the podcast was so new you're right yeah and I was just I was like I got it I have to interview this guy I've been following this guy

[00:15:04] this charity is doing incredible things we have to you know again momentum we have to keep this momentum going and oh he was so kind he goes yeah I'll wait around I'll wait around for you

[00:15:20] you know so I was very lucky and then obviously you know we engaged at a charity event as well which was which was a total blast and now as far as the 50 likes piece how did you end up

[00:15:41] becoming so instrumental with that organization walked me through that so Katie's accident was in 2013 and we didn't an AP take her like until 2015 and someone had told us that we needed to go to Florida and I have her legs made and

[00:16:01] that was really just out of the question that seemed like a horrible idea to travel from Kentucky to Florida but we did and I'm doing that and while we were down there

[00:16:11] the older of the place said you know you guys really need to use a charity to come down here I just didn't think that was nice to sayary I was a nurse it wasn't a financial need necessarily

[00:16:22] but then I realized that as a child you have to be fit like two or three times a year and so we did hook up with 50 legs and we utilized them for several years

[00:16:38] for a travel purposes so they would pay for our flights or hotels and stuff like that I loved everything about the charity everything that it did everybody that was had been helped by the charity that when we were down there we would meet they were just

[00:16:51] so grateful and so appreciative and so and probably 2019 I guess during COVID the staff of 50 legs was going to laying down because of you know finances and stuff like that

[00:17:06] and so I was actually far-loved I'm a nurse and I was far-loved at the time and I said well you know I can do this for free for the time being I'm not working anyway and so they just needed

[00:17:16] help setting up travel and thoughts and hotels and stuff like that so I'll offer it to do that for free during the summer months of the first year of COVID and then I just found me

[00:17:29] I enjoyed it and then also after a bit of time maybe a year I guess and they started to hire the staff back but I was still involved as a volunteer I really thought honestly that I had

[00:17:42] something to bring to the table they did not have an APT on board or a recipient on the board or the parent or there was one lady that was a sister of a recipient on the board and

[00:17:57] I was a nurse and so I was medical and I said you know I really think that I have something I mean it was actually I mean they were all about it of course but it was it was not

[00:18:07] I'd yes and I really think I have something to bring to the table I said I really want to be a board member and of course that was easy for them you know to agree to let me be a board member

[00:18:17] after that you know things with with any charity I think transpires over time or whatever and so for the most part it's just because we just don't want to spend the money on a director

[00:18:30] you know every time we think about hiring more people you think about how many legs that that would take away from somebody else you're paying an actual director you know a hundred thousand

[00:18:40] dollars a year or whatever so for the most part I've been I mean I've been a board member for several years but for the most part I am the director just because we can't pull the plug on the financial

[00:18:55] aspect of it we really we need to but we just have it we have a great board we have a lot of volunteers and so yeah I've been a board member for several years and pretty much oversee we have several

[00:19:12] part-time employees that that do the bulk of the work but can you not pretty heavily involved with the charity on a day to day basis we go to most of the events we you know she spoke at

[00:19:25] some of the events and there's not anybody involved with the charity that that doesn't really know who Katie is so how do you how do you like that Katie how do you like playing that role with 50 legs I mean

[00:19:36] you know especially the public speaking part like that that gives me anxiety to like think about like oh now I got to talk to all these people too oh I mean it's not too bad because I mean once you

[00:19:48] coming it's no me I don't really shout out I mean with all these kids too like and they don't shout up it's not a great duo but I mean that's alright my home honestly she takes care of a lot

[00:20:00] of stuff my name I don't know she's on board with shoes to be she's employed yeah it is yeah so I mean my whole family's wrapped up pretty much yeah but I think I think it's cool because I mean it just

[00:20:12] makes me more involved and it gets like I get to have more chance through it so and you've been an advocate long enough now I would think you've gone through like a spectrum of technology when it comes to your prosthesis as well I mean what is that experience

[00:20:31] been like for you because you're you're you know you're a young person and you're growing and things are changing your your fitness level is obviously changed a bit and you know what do you see that

[00:20:46] process like I mean through your eyes because you know so often I talk to adults that are in our situation being amputees but I think it's incredibly valuable to get like your perspective at

[00:21:00] your age I mean I started out in a crappy kidney that I mean every kid gets a 30 MPT and I've kind of just grew with that I mean I have I'm great at walking down great at running now and it's pretty

[00:21:16] much all things to be too late to not then I wouldn't be able to run but I mean I really think it's been a great experience for me being able to grow and like cause I mean I didn't use to walk this

[00:21:28] good it's just it all takes practice and determination I guess yeah I think that's really important because so often people will say to me in my professional life I mean I wear shorts is often as I

[00:21:43] possibly can because it just makes my life so much easier but in my professional life I always wear pants and so often people will say to me I heard this weird thing that you're an amputee

[00:21:59] and I'm like yeah and you know you do the whole like reveal right you like pull up your pant leg and go yep I am and they will say things like well I would never know because you don't move

[00:22:13] any different or this and that and I always say you know it's a combination which is kind of echoing what you're saying technology is incredibly important the right prosthesis the right fit

[00:22:28] the right support team all of that is important but let's face it we have to do a lot more work too we have to do the gate training we have to do our PT we have to employ all these other things

[00:22:43] to get to that level where we can move in a very natural way to be pain free you know to be able to do things like you're describing you know running I haven't quite gotten there yet

[00:22:58] that's definitely on my bucket list being able to run I can I can jog now I have a a leg that feels pretty comfortable on a jog but a full sprint I'm not I'm just not there yet

[00:23:14] and not that I was really there when I had my leg but again it's that it's that goal setting that occurs when suddenly you know we're donning this prosthesis all day and it sort of

[00:23:34] gets us in that space of rethinking like you know what can I really do with this you know how far can I push myself in this space and I think that's definitely evident in young people like yourself

[00:23:50] because very often young people are just boundless energy and they you know they tend to be a little more positive in that direction than let's say someone like myself who's in their 50s

[00:24:07] for me it's you know there's there's the age factor too that plays a little bit of a role right I always I always admire your mom's posts about going to the gym and you know taking care of yourself

[00:24:22] and you know promoting that wellness is so critical you know for sustainability and good health um as far as your your situation Katie I mean what challenges have you faced because you're such an active amputee when you think about your residual limb or the care that

[00:24:46] goes into that I mean what struggles are challenges have you faced especially when you're trying to compete so honestly the complications didn't really start until like middle school when kids got like just really mean about it and they didn't stop until I mean they still haven't stopped

[00:25:05] I mean it's took so much for me to wear shorts and public just as you can see my knee and I mean my set of my socks a little different looking so I mean that's another part of it too

[00:25:16] so it's it was pretty hard to get over the confidence factor that's the only thing that's the biggest issue for me because like honestly there's not that many above the knee

[00:25:30] amputees at my age so there's not like anyone certain that I can look to and be like hey like how do you deal with this because like I don't know I just kind of had to figure it out on my own I was

[00:25:43] in like a whole setting where I was the only person in this world and I had to get through it over and else you would have felt like yeah until I went to these competitions and I saw the

[00:25:54] girls just same ages me I was like hey like how do you get through school when I don't think so it's it's all just a work in progress there's nothing really I can say that will stop it so

[00:26:08] I've come to accept it yeah I mean it took me a lot just to even start posting about it that's what I want to do so that's what I have to do. I think you're right and I

[00:26:28] appreciate you being so honest you know that transparency is to me when you speak in that way Katie that is an incredible sign of strength when you can say those things when you can

[00:26:43] face down right when you can stand there and look at yourself and say these are the challenges that I'm managing these are the things that I have to overcome right because I've talked to many adult

[00:26:59] amputees that were um either born with a congenital defect or let's say that they had an issue you know some kind of trauma like yourself or chronic illness that caused an amputation at a very young age so my fascination always goes to what was your childhood like

[00:27:22] what did that feel like what did you go through what were the struggles in assimilating fitting in right because I go to that place in my mind when I was your age and I was incredibly shy

[00:27:38] I was not confident at all and anything that anyone did that made me feel either I was different, disliked or uncool was crushing for me it was crushing. I would internalize it I would carry it around. I really really struggled with myself confidence. I definitely had a like

[00:28:05] like a lot of you know like physical like this morphia issues like I'm not good enough I'm not good looking enough I'm not this I'm not that but to be able to talk to someone like yourself

[00:28:20] to know that that's all of that is very real and it's just a building block of your resilience as a person you know as as a woman and someone that is going to be that much stronger in your

[00:28:35] later life because you've gone through that because a lot of people don't have to deal with it on that level that you're describing because that is difficult when you feel like you mentioned

[00:28:51] like I'm in this world like all by myself like I'm alone in this right and that's really really hard at a young age but to be able to don that prosthesis compete and to empower yourself

[00:29:09] and have the courage to show the world how powerful you are is it's extraordinary it's extraordinary and I think that's why you know I see your light is so bright and I you know I

[00:29:26] draw energy from that and it inspires me to try new things and to do things that maybe I you know wouldn't have done otherwise so please please know that the people that really matter

[00:29:44] are behind you and they're watching you know and that's all we really need to know you know as amputees really and we we have to we have to band together and we have to show the

[00:29:59] world as a community that we are incredibly powerful people that we are just these fountains of courage and resilience and inspiration and it just shows courage that you'd be willing to come on

[00:30:16] and share that you know with the world and you know someday when you've got your own kids and all that other jazz all that other adult stuff they'll look back and that's your legacy like wow she's

[00:30:30] amazing you know and of course you know you've got your your mom to think for all of those for all of those traits and all the not just your genetic code but all of that culture and

[00:30:48] you know family kind of love and support and all that good stuff that has brought you to this place you know as far as looking ahead I was struck by some of the things when I was doing show prep

[00:31:08] and and because I follow I know so much about the both of you already um this event that you've been doing the Katie's Ride um what is the plan going forward with

[00:31:22] that is that's something that you're doing every year now and you know that that seems like a huge endeavor tell me about that but it's been a ton of fun so I guess it's some of yours

[00:31:34] uh 10 next year yeah I think it's skipped a year because of COVID so there was a couple that we knew that reached out to us um the year that Katie lost her leg and wanted to know if they could have

[00:31:47] this uh a car ride it is mostly old cars and they drive through the country and then they stop and have a black or car show um and they wanted to know if they could have that for for us

[00:32:00] and give us the money and at that point we we had really kind of rebounded a little bit from the financial aspect of her um 22 surgery she and had and so you know but they were really

[00:32:14] excited about it so I don't we really don't need the money but if you want to have it we could have it and you could donate it to 50 legs so every year they have this this car show we don't

[00:32:24] really have to do a whole lot for it we we basically just show up and you know we do this fabulous route to the country and then we have lunch at an orchard Katie gets to pick the

[00:32:34] winner of the car um and it it's really fun to have a local event we do a lot of events all over the United States but Katie's route is is really special to us because it is local

[00:32:46] and um it's just a ton of fun it for us to be able to be a part of that every year yeah I was blown away by it and um so nice to sort of build those traditions you know

[00:32:59] that is just it's just it's just part of that sort of yearly endeavor which is to give back and to continue um providing these much needed resources for people through the 50 legs organization

[00:33:15] I wanted to talk a little bit about what it happened when a mother like yourself Samantha and I don't I don't know if if Katie's aware of this but there was a a young mother

[00:33:34] that had contacted me and her son was um in a similar uh accident to yourself Katie and she was she was following you know through the podcast and um she had reached out to me

[00:33:55] I think she actually just sent me a DM and I think she was surprised that I just immediately you know answered back um and of course when when she described her situation there were two things that immediately you know bells were going off and I thought number one

[00:34:17] I have to go see this person she was in a really really difficult space emotionally and I just felt like she so desperately needed and her son needed to see an MPT to see someone wearing a prosthesis to see someone walk in the room with a prosthesis on

[00:34:42] because in her mind I think it was it was a very very dark kind of space like for her life was like over um I can't go on this like she was sending signals that were scaring me and yeah it was um

[00:35:02] not really um not really an uncommon situation to be honest um having been there myself when your child is involved in a along Meliaxidin or any kind of a trauma like that

[00:35:18] um the situation with her was um hers was so fresh when when you connect to me with her and I've I've done this many times with um with moms or parents of Long-Line accident but hers was one of the hardest ones for me because

[00:35:42] um the feeling originated it I could feel it it was so tangible yeah I did as well back there it took me back and I knew when I'm when I started talking to her

[00:36:00] it took me back to that dark place as well and um it often does but other situations that were different than hers is some of the other people weren't as willing to um

[00:36:13] they weren't as forthcoming about how they were feeling as she was and they might have had other family to turn to and I'm not saying she didn't have any family but she um

[00:36:25] she connected with me very strongly and it was um we would text in the middle not and we would have phone calls in the middle of not and it really took me back to a place that I had you know

[00:36:37] and that's that's one thing I kept telling her is um if you just say this course and you just keep moving forward I promise you this feeling will go away it will life will just make it go away

[00:36:49] and and I didn't even realize that really until I had reconnected with her because you can't feel that way forever it's just not even possible I'll think there's a there's a feeling that comes along with that top of a trauma and I hadn't even remember how horrible

[00:37:05] of a timeframe that was until I connected with her um and I was just so desperate to help her because I realized then this could have gone either way and I realized that I was like

[00:37:22] this could have gone either way with me you know I felt like and I don't it wasn't a choice I might I don't think I think it just happened and I don't know if it's the people around me or

[00:37:31] Katie was doing so well or what it was but the things that she was saying I could remember feeling that way and it was it was really hard it was probably hardest situation of trying to help somebody

[00:37:44] through something I've had and I've tried to help a lot of people parents anyway try to navigate through this and for her um she's single also she didn't have a uh a spouse and so I really did feel

[00:37:59] like for a minute time that I was all she had um that was the feeling I got so when she took her she did take her son to the same place that I took Katie um and and the facility even said she's just

[00:38:11] she's not doing well um to the point where I got on a plane and I flew down there yeah um and and that that was helpful and I mean she even even my mom got involved and my mom would talk to her sometimes

[00:38:26] in the middle of the night because it was just so um it's hard to explain because I think for somebody on the outside they think um and it is it's a big deal I said it's a horrible it was a horrible

[00:38:40] thing but the feeling was normal and it's really hard to explain if you have a child that has been injured by something like a lawnmower it's just such a foreign concept oh sure that could possibly

[00:38:53] happen there weren't there wasn't negligence involved it wasn't anything like that but you had a perfectly healthy child and they only you have to go through this trauma and you don't you don't

[00:39:03] know what's doing with that you just really don't know how to process it and every day for the longest time um it was years before I could really process that that had happened that it really

[00:39:16] wasn't as uncommon as I thought it was um you know because you just feel like people were looking at me forever as being this and I don't want to just be this you have to get out from

[00:39:26] under that dark cloud and figure out what your journey's gonna be and I just did not want to be known for that but it was years before I got that feeling out of the way but connecting with her

[00:39:37] was really really hard it was yeah I mean what I was going to say too was you know going there this this this urgency of like I need to go and meet this person yeah um I spent a week on with her

[00:39:55] and her son and just tried to process through a lot of what you're describing which is spot on and this huge bell went off oh my gosh you need to talk to Samantha oh my gosh you need to

[00:40:10] talk to 50 legs um and I think I I think I just simply sent you like a quick message and you you like you know revealed your superwoman cape and you like flew and

[00:40:29] you just took control and went foam right into action and I can't even tell you and I I don't know if I've ever really taken a moment to thank you to say gosh just just the worry I had for her

[00:40:46] and knowing that the baton that I had passed was in the right hands and that was such a comfort to me and knowing that this was probably going to be in some ways difficult like you mentioned

[00:41:04] because it sort of opens up some old wounds about you know your own experience your own feelings that have now you know have sort of layered over now but are still there and always will be there

[00:41:19] but at the same time I know that she can help her I know that they can help her they will figure it out because you know coming coming from through my lens like you know I don't I don't even know how to

[00:41:37] start here because we have an obvious issue with her son because he's gone through this trauma but mom is in this very very difficult place right now and she needs hope and she needs connectivity

[00:41:53] and she needs to know you know and I think Katie said it best like you're not alone you're not alone there are other people that are willing to support you willing to love you willing to help

[00:42:07] and try you know they're best to get you through this moment to push you forward so that a year two years five years from now a lot of that it's always going to be part of you but it's something

[00:42:23] now that you see as a building block for your strength your resilience has a person that you went through it you came out you know of the haunted forest you're in the daylight again which is a good thing

[00:42:38] and when I do see her nurse on thriving it's pretty awesome yeah she's doing amazing it was um it's like I said it's hard to explain because you know even if

[00:42:51] you have and I had great support I really did a lot of friends and a lot of family and stuff like that but it's just so unrelatable when you go through something like that I remember when it was

[00:43:01] I really was trying to um feel normal again and I used to be a runner and so I would get out and run with my friends and I started trying to run with them again and they would be talking about

[00:43:14] their kids doing dance and soccer and they were complaining about the cost of their dance uniforms and stuff like that and I was thinking I just just need my kid to be able to walk

[00:43:24] yeah you're like you're like you're you're complaining about right you know nobody knows what to do with you because they're like oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to complain about this but that they

[00:43:34] had a normal complaint that I would have complained about two years prior so you don't want to shoot them down but um I remember exactly when when the lady that that you're talking about

[00:43:45] it had been a period of time that I talked to her for whatever reason you know she'd gotten back on her feet somewhat and and you know I've been busy with my life and she she reached out

[00:43:55] and and I thought gosh I wonder how she's really doing and she called and when I was talking to her on the phone and it just hit me like a ton of bricks and I said I don't really know what's

[00:44:07] saying I'm not saying that I don't know if you know this but you survived this like everything in voice was different everything was it was it was cheerful and she was happy and she was back

[00:44:17] to work and nothing was gloom and doing about he's not been able to do this and he's not going to be able to do that he was in school and everything and it was it was kind of nice that there

[00:44:27] been a little period of time since I talked to her because she was entirely different and I said honestly did not even know if it was possible because it was so bad it was just so so bad

[00:44:37] the place that she was at and I just couldn't pull her out of it. Now we've done a I've done a check in with her too and and she's definitely turned turn the corner and is in a very, very good

[00:44:50] place now um yeah so there's no weird survival mode that you go into um then I think that's what is kind of blocked out and that's that's what I remember the most when I started talking

[00:45:03] around the beginning is survival mode and it's miserable it's just a miserable place and I felt that and it took me back to remembering stuff like that and I would be like you know why don't

[00:45:16] you just go outside you know why don't you go sit on your porch for a minute you know just very little things or trying to convince her why don't you just take a shower today yeah and you know

[00:45:26] that soon outside of this I can this one you know if anybody else said that you would think well they need to be committed you know what I mean they need like serious but I knew what it was it was

[00:45:37] very basic thing and she'd be like okay yeah I'll go I would take a shower it's just it's an odd miserable horrible depression um when it's your child it's just it's it's it's unbearable it's just

[00:45:54] unbearable because you're responsible yeah with this little broken person that you know you have you you have a kid a lot of times I'll purpose and and you think if you do all the right things

[00:46:07] that you're going to turn out this way and for circumstances beyond your control that was not what happened and there's no you know there's all the what to expect during the teenage years and what to

[00:46:18] expect when you're expecting there is not I want to expect when your kid gets ran up a ball on so to try to navigate that and make sure that all the opportunities are there is scary and it's

[00:46:31] overwhelming to think that you've got to figure this out or you're I mean it's not just your life and shutting down is not an option no you know that was one thing that I kept thinking is

[00:46:44] you can't light down in the bed you know if this was some other situation you really are I'm just gonna be depressed and I'm gonna curl up in the fetal position I'm gonna go bed that's not an

[00:46:54] option yeah being a mother yeah you can't take a vacation from no every day you had to face it whether you wanted to or not you really did there was no option yeah how does all that make you feel

[00:47:07] Katie I mean when you hear all that I mean where where does your mind go to um I mean for my family it was just such a different experience than me because I mean I don't remember it

[00:47:21] like I don't I mean I like I remember the sounds of the hospital art like I've certain sounds triggered me but I don't remember I mean everything I'm not gonna go to detail but everything

[00:47:32] that I look like after and that's something that's gonna be engraved into their mind forever but not mine yeah so it's just totally different sides of trauma totally different signs of depression

[00:47:46] it's just and I didn't really realize that it had such an effect on other people until I grew up in had a talk like this is what's going on like this is I don't know like it was just I don't know

[00:48:02] it was just almost mind bending that I wasn't the only one going through something like the accident didn't happen and yeah I never really realized that because the accident was so

[00:48:15] self-centered on getting me better and that took so much out of my mom and my dad and my like all my family basically just going through something so right right now that makes complete sense uh there was a thing that had happened when I was a kid

[00:48:35] probably about the same age when you had your accident and I was I was in Chicago and I was leaving my grandmother's house and I was running ahead of my parents and there were these doors that were like plate class

[00:48:52] it's like an old-time door like a wooden door with a big glass panel and you know as a kid I'm running and I went to open the door and I put my hand right through the glass

[00:49:05] and apparently I I severed my finger well enough that it was sort of like you know like dangling there and my parents describe it like it was the most horrible terrifying like

[00:49:23] the way they describe it was like there was an ambulance and there was like people in the street and you know it was pandemonium Katie I don't remember any of it right well aside that

[00:49:37] Romanticism that Katie wrote in school when she was younger um they had an assignment and to teach her apologize profusely for even asking the question but she had asked the class to rot about what

[00:49:48] the most miserable experience of their laugh was now there she sits with her prosthetic leg and the most horrible experience of her laugh was getting braces oh really yes braces on her teeth

[00:50:04] never made an effect that she had been backed over by a long ago yeah I didn't like the braces experience either just so you know yeah her teeth were called me she's like I'm so sorry I

[00:50:14] asked this question but I've got to tell you what her answer was how is that so bad and that when you can surgery on your leg and braces is what you remember yeah yeah I don't know it's

[00:50:28] I think you're right Katie it's it's this it's sort of mind-bending in that what does the brain do right in those situations to sort of insulate us from some of those things that occur

[00:50:43] right and now that you're getting older you're hearing stories and maybe there's these sort of connecting of dots of oh that's what happened or oh that's what someone saw was going through and

[00:50:57] yeah like I was just growing up and being a kid and oh we're going to my next prosthesis fitting today and that's just what I do because that's just life but you know looking through

[00:51:11] the lens of a of a child is very different so I would think having to process even in this moment like I'm on some podcast talking about this you're like it's all just kind of bizarre sometimes

[00:51:28] right but at least it has brought you to this place you have this bond right with your family with the people in this community this this sense of belonging and very much so a

[00:51:48] a mission and a journey that's just extraordinary I mean what an incredible life journey to this point most people my age haven't even experienced what you've been through everything has just been kind of humdrum and just you know status quo whereas I look at someone

[00:52:12] like yourself and I think gosh that's that's a lot of life to live in a short amount of time and just think of what you're capable of you know in the next you know 70 80 years of your life

[00:52:25] which is phenomenal can you give out the website address for 50 likes just so the listeners can hear it yep it is 50 likes dot org so if you like dot org there's all kinds of information on

[00:52:43] there just about the charity in general or CBS that we've helped you know what exactly we do why still don't make yep and what would you say is some of your goals for the summer and

[00:52:57] beyond Katie um right now focused on just flying little meets time stone and the heart for nationals but yeah I mean I'll just go wherever she takes me I guess just a long for the right

[00:53:18] we're in full flight full mode of track seasons so we'll go to um turn stone next weekend as in Indiana and then about three weeks after that we'll be nationals which is in Alabama this year and so

[00:53:32] she's just working on her times just to see um you know for 20 28 the the pair of legs just to see you know how close we can get to that she's she's very competitive and like she said there are not

[00:53:47] a lot of female above the knee amputees right run track um I'm not for sure why it's just not a thing well because they're not badass like Katie yeah yeah so um you know and her her

[00:54:02] times are really good and she really loves to run I mean she she started doing five case when she was seven yeah and then she went on to sprinting so she really enjoys sprinting she trains a lot

[00:54:14] so hopefully 28 um how do you feel how do you feel about that Katie when your mom says that what 20 28 yeah I feel great about it I love to go 20 20 she wanted to be 24 I mean there's been a

[00:54:32] pair of sticker in my mind since I was like yeah since it's in her sense I got my abutations since I could put the blame on I mean I went to this camp one summer and I was like I'm hooked like

[00:54:43] and I wanted to go to Paris and little too not a lot but I've loved to go in 28 gosh with that be awesome man that would be just that would be just such an accomplishment I mean what an aspiration

[00:55:01] I'm definitely gonna pray on that one and I wish you nothing but the best that life has to offer and when I when I'm hoping uh is that someday I'll get to see you compete in person

[00:55:16] and um experience all of that but you know I want to thank you both we're out of time but uh thank you for being here thank you for giving up early and uh being part of this

[00:55:34] please don't be a stranger I feel so honored and privileged to be associated with 50 legs and people like yourselves that are an integral part of that organization um that I was able to help

[00:55:49] fundraise a little bit you know it was a great event that was so much fun wasn't it especially especially when Steve was trying to get people to shut up yeah I think I whispered to him I'm like just telling the shot up

[00:56:06] yes it was good that was a ton of fun there was a lot of fun yeah definitely something that you know I would I would like to revisit at some point again but it's just it's really been wonderful you

[00:56:21] know getting to know you and your people and just all of that you know sharing that energy together has been really really um important to me and I feel blessed that in this space um but Katie

[00:56:39] Samantha thank you for being here this is the app to 11 podcasts my name is Rick Bancowski and I want to wish everyone health and happiness and we will see you next time