Swimmer Ali Truwit reaches Paralympics a year after losing lower leg in shark attack while snorkeling

By PAT GRAHAM

The first step for swimmer Ali Truwit was to overcome her new fear of the one place she had always felt safe: the water.

Because the sound of water, and any sound involving water, instantly brought back flashbacks to the day she swam for her life after being bitten by a shark.

She and a friend were snorkeling in the ocean off Turks and Caicos on May 24, 2023, when a shark attacked Truwit, biting her lower left leg. Bleeding and with the shark circling, Truwit went into competitive swimming mode and ran 75 yards to the safety of the boat. Truwit was rushed to the hospital and then airlifted to the United States, where she underwent three surgeries, including an amputation of her leg below the knee.

Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit trains at Chelsea Piers Athletic Club, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

To regain her love of the water, she took to the family’s backyard pool. She waded waist-deep, fought the fear, and took back control. The dive was not only the beginning of her path to healing, but also to Paris for the Paralympics.

“I love comeback stories,” said the 24-year-old from Darien, Connecticut, who qualified for Paris in the 100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke. “I’ve definitely relied on other people’s comeback stories to keep me going for what feels like an audacious and unrealistic hope: fighting off a shark, surviving, losing a limb and making the Paralympics all in one year.”

The Shark Attack – “We Tried to Fight Back”

Her travel plans for that summer were all about fun and adventure, before she started working at a consulting firm.

Truwit had just graduated from Yale after a career in swimming that included a four-year letter winner, and she kicked it off with a marathon with her mother on Mother’s Day.

Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit talks with coach Jamie Barone before practice at Chelsea Piers Athletic Club, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Next on the list: sunbathing on the beaches of Turks and Caicos with friends. She went snorkeling with Yale teammate and good friend Sophie Pilkinton in an area not known for its sharks.

As they walked back to the boat, a shark came towards them and aggressively attacked them.

“We tried to fight back,” Truwit said.

She was bitten in her foot and lower leg by a suspected bull shark.

Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit puts on her prosthetic leg before training at Chelsea Piers Athletic Club, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

“My first thought was, ‘Am I crazy or do I have no foot?'” Truwit said. “It was a very difficult image for me. But you immediately go into action.”

Stay calm. Stay conscious. Just get to the boat. That was all she focused on as she and Pilkinton sprinted through the water, acutely aware that the shark was still there.

Once on the boat, Pilkinton applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

Truwit was later airlifted to a trauma hospital in Miami for two surgeries to combat infections. She was flown to a hospital in New York, where she underwent a transtibial amputation, a below-the-knee amputation, on her 23rd birthday.

“A lot of dark days,” she said. “But I’m alive and I almost wasn’t here anymore.”

Work works becomes the mantra for recovery

The Truwit family has a mantra: “Work works.” So Truwit went to rehab, even on days when she wasn’t feeling well or was sad.

“Just do your best,” she said.

Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit watches an announcement about girlfriend Kate Douglass’ Olympic gold medal win before practice at Chelsea Piers Athletic Club, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

But first she had to change her “Why?”

Instead of, “Why did this happen to me?” she focused on, “Why shouldn’t I throw everything into something?”

To be more specific, why not the Paralympics? After all, she had plenty of time to prepare for the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.

“But I’m not one to wait,” she said.

So Paris it became in 2024, even though the time frame was incredibly tight.

Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit during an interview with The Associated Press after a workout at Chelsea Piers Athletic Club, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

She underwent prosthetic training and strength exercises. She also worked with trauma therapists, which led to narrative therapy to reshape her life and combat her nightmares.

“So that I wouldn’t let fear rule my life,” Truwit explained. “I had lost enough and whatever was on the table to get back, I was going to fight to get it back.

“I didn’t want to lose a limb and also my love for the water.”

Focus on making Team USA for Paris

About 3 1/2 months after the attack, she was back competing. It was early, but necessary to meet certain standards to compete for a Paralympic spot. To help her, she joined her club coach, Jamie Barone.

“I was just really curious about how I would feel when I got back on the pool deck and back in a competitive space,” Truwit said. “The more I worked on it, the less flashbacks and less pain.”

Paralympic swimmer Ali Truwit looks on as her mother, Jody Truwit, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at Chelsea Piers Athletic Club, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

She qualified for the national championships in Orlando, Florida, where she swam freestyle and backstroke. In April, she attended an international meet in Portugal, her first trip outside the country since the shark attack. Her mother was there when she excelled in the 400 freestyle S10 category, in which swimmers have a physical disability that affects one of their joints.

“She’s just a workhorse who refuses to give up,” said her mother, Jody. “That’s who she was before the attack and the amputation and that’s who she is every day now.”

At the U.S. Paralympic trials in Minneapolis in late June, she won the 100-meter backstroke, 400-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle. She joins a team that includes Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long and a host of returning medalists from Tokyo.

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“I think hearing my name on that team reminded me that I am stronger than I think,” said Truwit, who founded the “Stronger Than You Think” foundation to help others navigate the healing process. “That we are all stronger than we think.”

In Paris she receives the support of about 50 family members and friends.

“A year ago, I was just trying to get back in the water,” Truwit said. “Now I get back in the water and that feeling of joy comes back, and the smile comes back. To have that back is something I’m so thankful for. Honestly, it’s one of the proudest moments in my swimming career because I know how much work it took.”

Video journalist Aron Ranen contributed to this report.