Part 1:
At age nine, I was told I wouldn’t be able to run if I continued my active, athletic lifestyle. Despite consistently hearing professionals give the same advice for seven years to “quit now before you lose the ability to run”, “there are no solutions to your condition”, and my favorite, “give up”, it never stopped me in pursuit of my goals. Instead, I developed the creative confidence to create a solution to heal and discovered a passion for serving others through fitness.
The start of my challenging fitness journey began when I was first diagnosed with severe Osgood-Schlatters. As described earlier, doctors didn’t know how to solve my chronic knee pain and told me to quit sports once their recovery programs were ineffective. The pattern of taking time off, going to physical therapy, getting re-diagnosed with some new condition, and then repeatedly hearing their quitter’s advice became exhausting.
Around age 12, I developed a bakers cyst on the back of my left knee. This cyst led to me being pulled out of my second period middle school health class to go directly into an emergency picc line procedure, followed by another emergency knee surgery. My surgeon discovered there was bacteria in my leg eating away at my cartilage, causing bone on bone grinding, and consequently causing the pain and the cyst. Following the second surgery, I woke up with tubes coming out of my knee, in pain, and was told I would be in a wheelchair for at least two weeks.
Like that was going to happen.
Three days later, my tubes were taken out, and I was walking with a cane, despite being told I wouldn’t be able to.
Below is a very unattractive picture of me walking for the first time post surgery.
My mom had to bribe me with chocolate shakes to even get me into the car to see the ‘evil’ doctor who put me through what my 12 year old mindset deemed as Hell. To help me recover from such an extensive surgery, I asked my soccer coach to move me down to the B team so I could work on my skills and fitness at a slower pace. Additionally, my mom encouraged me with money to start CrossFit to regain my strength back. As a kid, bribery was clearly effective haha.
The combination of playing at a lower level and training at CrossFit Advantage allowed me to regain my strength and endurance to play soccer for the next two years while wearing knee braces, KT tape, and following my PT program. Despite the successful surgery, I still had sharp knee pain in both my knees. Doctor after doctor repeatedly advised me to quit soccer. This only drove me to keep working. My mom kept searching for new specialists who could help me, varying from psychics, acupuncture, energy healers, etc. Despite not feeling relief, I still became the fittest player on the soccer field from going to CrossFit, and earned my place as starter and captain of the B team. Even though I was still in pain, I was excited to move back up to my old team and be challenged even further.
Before the start of my freshman year of high school, my pain levels in my knees intensified, to the point I was unable to walk without severe pain in my knees and unable to play any sports. Just getting out of bed in the mornings was a challenge. I was a depressed teen who was sick of the pain and tired of hearing I had no future in athletics due to having zero control over my body. So I switched everything up; I cut contact with all doctors, and committed to my own plan to heal.
I conducted research on the best diets and the best exercises for overcoming chronic knee pain. My research led me to following my own personalized recovery program for a full year, which included strictly following the Paleo diet plus stretching and performing physical therapy exercises for 90 minutes each day. In addition to my recovery program, I followed a program my brother created to rebuild my mental strength, fitness, and technical skills. Together, the two programs helped me reach my goal of re-earning the position as a starter on the Nationals A team in May of 2015. I finally reached success when I was told to give up and expected to fail.
Yet this seven year battle was just part one of my challenging fitness journey.
Part 2:
Eight months into my first pain-free season with the Nationals A team, I endured two stacked concussions and had to take three months off to recover, only to get back on the field and endure more. The Seattle Children’s Concussion Specialist told me if I continued playing, the next concussion may lead to memory loss, speech issues, and permanent damage. Not willing to risk my entire future, I quit playing the sport I fell in love with.
I had worked so hard for the past seven years to re-earn my identity as an athlete and freedom to move. Yet I lost it all in less than a year after reaching my goal of being pain-free. Despite this heartbreak, it opened up a new door; becoming a CrossFit coach. My head coach, Cody Looney, took me under his wing and mentored me. Cody set me up for success to earn my Level One, co-found Wolfpack Power (a teen’s CrossFit program), PilotFit (the University of Portland’s first CrossFit class), UpLift (the University of Portland’s women’s weightlifting club), as well as start Alpha, my own six week program for women and teens. I quickly fell in love with serving others through fitness.
Part 3:
September 21st, 2018, at 11:43 AM I was hit by a distracted Lyft driver. Upon impact, my head hit the window and I was knocked out. I woke up in my car, facing oncoming traffic in their lane. I didn’t know what had happened until I saw my mirror missing on my passenger side. I immediately moved my car to get out of the oncoming lane and called my mom, 911 and then my friend, Megan Elling. Over the phone, I told Meg that “a bitch just hit me, and I need help”. She came running, thinking I got into a fist fight with a chick and needed backup! Little did I know that this car accident would bring me the blessing of becoming best friends with Megan Elling, who was my lifesaver that day. Meg skipped her classes to stay by my side, called my insurance, and talked to the police and medics for me. She even took me to the Urgent Care and helped me talk to them as I was in such shock and pain, I struggled to comprehend what was anyone was saying.
I attempted to go to class on Monday, only to experience shock as I couldn’t understand anything finance professor was teaching; it felt like he wasn’t even speaking English. My body and mind went into instant panic; I feared I had a concussion from the accident. I quit the sport I loved to avoid enduring another concussion and here I was, scared as hell that I might suffer permanent damage. I immediately went home and Seattle Children’s tested me for a concussion. I felt confident going into the hospital I would not dramatically fail the exams. Yet I couldn’t maintain any balance or focus. In the exam room, I broke down, after hearing I endured a traumatic brain injury, not just a concussion. The rest of the appointment consisted of me failing test after test, and with each failed test, I became more scared.
Although I was advised to drop out of college, I attended school a week later. I refused to let anyone or anything get in my way of graduating in four years with 150 credits. Despite not remembering anything from the first four weeks of school, struggling to recognize new friends, and dealing with a stutter and slur, I attended a reduced schedule and earned a 4.0 with the support of my incredible friends and professors.
On December 3rd, 2018, I was cleared to start running for two minutes at a time. I was pumped; I re-earned the freedom to run again! With my background, you can imagine that being injured is like having my identity and freedom stolen away from me, so this day was a huge milestone. I texted my friends and family, so excited for the future and proud of myself for all the work I put into healing while in school. I was optimistic I would be back to training without limitations soon!
Unfortunately, on my way back home from PT, I was hit head on in a Lyft car by a driver who was suspected of being high. Once safely home, it was clear this accident put me back at square one in my recovery, as well as put so much fear into my mind that I refused to get into a car the next day.
Fast forward to now, I am still recovering from all my injuries, learning to heal from anxiety and PTSD while in a car, and I have graduated from the University of Portland. Despite the brain trauma and long recovery, I graduated Magma Cum Laude, earned multiple academic awards, competed on the University accounting team, and accepted a full time job post-graduation. All that success didn’t go without the countless panic attacks, mental breakdowns, angry and frustrating moments of not having the physical freedom to do what I want due to events I had no control over. I am still fighting to make a full recovery, yet I’ve accomplished huge benchmarks: running 7 miles, lifting 90 pounds, and 5 pull ups. Through this journey, I have learned it is important to find ways to stay active each day for my own happiness, to take rest days especially when my body is communicating to me it needs to, and to make more time for loved ones; especially my parents who constantly supported and loved me, even when I unfairly took my pain out on them.
As your coach, I will give you the same commitment I give to my own health journey. From fitness, nutrition, mental strength, to recoveries, I am here.
Benson's Lifestyle 