FACES OF SPORTS
ALLYSA SEELY: A NATIONAL TREASURE BY ERIC CARLYLE (HE, HIM, HIS)
The fact that 31-year-old Allysa Seely was born in Phoenix had no bearing on our decision to honor her in this special issue of Compete. And while she attended college at Arizona State University just a few miles from Compete’s office, Seely is much more to us than a fellow Phoenician. To me, her desire and drive to continue competing in spite of her medical condition that continues to worsen with age really makes her a national treasure. Seely was one of 20 athletes featured in ESPN The Magazine’s 2106 Body Issue. In 2018 she and Mark Barr won the USA Triathlon’s 2018 Elite Paratriathletes of the Year award. She matched that last year when ESPN presented her with an ESPY as Best Female Athlete with a Disability. She also took a seat on USA Triathlon’s board of directors in 2019. But I think I am getting a little ahead of myself. Seely completed her first triathlon in 2008 as an able-bodied athlete while still in college and became a nationally ranked triathlete. In 2010, after experiencing numbness and tingling in her limbs for two years she was diagnosed with Chiari II Malformation, basilar invagination and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. In a 2016 espnW article, she shared with Morty Ain that “the Chiari malformation means my brain is herniated into my spinal column, so a significant amount of my cerebellum and brain stem is outside of my skull and inside my spinal column. The basilar invagination means the part that is from my skull to my spine is bent at a weird angle; it has like a kink in it. And Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a connective tissue disorder. And then the complications from those three diagnoses and the surgeries I've had led to complications that eventually led to the amputation of my left leg below my knee.” In spite of what would seem like insurmountable odds, she remained a competitive college athlete while continuing to treat her condition, becoming the first collegiate athlete with a physical disability to compete at the national championships. As her condition progressed, Seely continued participating in sports as an elite paratriathlete. In 2012 at the ITU Paratriathlon World Championships she earned a bronze medal. But the following year Seely suffered a setback, the year when her left leg was amputated below the knee. Doctors questioned if she’d ever walk again. But Seely is a fighter and she was back training just weeks after surgery, much to the hesitation of her doctors, nurses and physical therapists who were urging her to be “realistic” about her future outcome. She decided to prove them wrong and just eight months later she competed in the triathlon collegiate nationals! By 2014 Seely was Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil, CC BY 3.0 BR <https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/3.0/br/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons
40 COMPETE november - december 2020
back competing and between 2014-2019 she continued to score a number of medals and championships leading up to her ESPY. In 2019 Seely relocated to Colorado Springs to utilize the Olympic Training Center. She was featured in The Denver Post alongside her service dog Mowgli, a golden retriever. The pair train together, running up to 40 miles each week. Seely says Mowgli can sense medical emergencies before they happen even though he hasn’t been trained to do that. When Seely experiences a seizure or loses consciousness her canine friend is there to protect her. I am inspired by Seely’s honest posts like this one from her Facebook page on October 14: “As an athlete I have always found my stride in the form of ‘Get up, Dress up, Show up and NEVER give up’ to me showing up everyday is not about being your best everyday, but doing what you can everyday. Some days that is, FRUSTRATINGLY, resting and healing. Today it took of the form of squats, wall sits, some bed sit ups and planks. Everyday I aim to show up in the way that I can and by doing so I’ve defied odds, gone places I could have never imagined and accomplished things no one else has. No matter how irritated I get by my medical conditions and the ways in which they hold me back I want to focus on the ways—no matter how small—I can move forward…” As she ages, the disease continues to progress and presents more challenges. But Seely continues to be upbeat and to face each challenge one day at time. Seely is a true winner (and so is Mowgli)!
