3 minute read
ORDINARY PEOPLE LIVING EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
Vivian Stancil, 74
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Vivian Stancil had just turned 50, and it was time for her annual physical exam. It was an appointment she had dreaded because she knew something was not right. Still, the doctor’s words shook her, “Lose weight or you will die.”
Stancil began to reflect on her life. “This couldn’t be it,” she thought. “There has to be more.”
Stancil never felt like she mattered. Both her parents died by the time she was seven. She grew up in foster homes. By 19 she was married, divorced and the mother of two. Oh, and that year she lost her eyesight to retinitis pigmentosa.
Now, in that exam room, hearing the doctor’s words left her blind and lost.
“That was not how my life was going to end,” she said. But the doctor detected a heart murmur, and at just five feet tall and weighing 320 pounds the task ahead was not going to be easy.
“I was so big I could barely walk,” she remembered. “But I wanted to live.”
She knew she needed to exercise more and eat less. She started on a plant-based diet. Because of her size swimming seemed ideal, but there was a problem. “I was terrified of water,” she explained. “So much so that I had never been in a pool before, but I knew this was a matter of life or death.”
Terrified, she clung to the side of the pool. “Kids were making fun of me,” she remembered. “And my coach was begging me to let go. Suddenly, something washed over me telling me not to give in to my fear. I was going to conquer it and take control.”
Over time, Stancil became comfortable in the water and the combination of diet and exercise began to take effect. The more changes she noticed the more determined she became. She joined an aquatics team and began to participate in swim meets, culminating in her participation in the National Senior Games.
Today Stancil is 74, still swimming, still competing and has lost over 100 pounds. She went from a size 24 to a 12 and has never felt better. She has her health back, and she has a purpose.
“This may be the best time of my life,” she said. “I’m a proud 74-year-old woman who helps people with disabilities. I have run two non-profit organizations like the Vivian Stancil Olympic Foundation which helps children and seniors safely participate in swimming, and I get to travel and speak.”
She has an effervescent, uplifting demeanor and seems to genuinely enjoy meeting others and telling her story. Wherever she goes she inspires many.
“My message is do not be stopped by fear,” she said. “Take responsibility for your health and do what you can to help others in your community. We can all make a difference.”
