How to Keep Moving Through Your Hardest Season with Lynda Fisher

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Welcome everyone to the Abundance Formula podcast. My name is
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Gina Oldham, practitioner of prosthetics and orthotics, fitness expert, business owner,
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lifestyle entrepreneur, and four time national bikini competitor. This podcast
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was created to empower people to build abundant lives for themselves,
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Lives that are purposeful, fruitful, and send a ripple effect
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through the world. From short motivational segments to game changing
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conversations with highly successful and abundant people, be ready to
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learn the formula of common actions, thought patterns, and principles
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that create abundant living. Whether it be your mindset, health, business,
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or relationships, the Abundance Formula has what you need to up.
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Level your life to the one you're called to live.
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So here we go.
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Today's guest is Linda Fisher. She's a speaker, author, an
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amputea advocate whose life is a powerful testament to finding
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purpose in the midst of unimaginable loss. After surviving a
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devastating tragedy that changed her life forever, Linda shows that
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her circumstances would not define the rest of her story. Instead,
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she has dedicated her life to encouraging others to keep
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moving forward through life's heartest seasons with faith, hope, and resilience.
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Through her story, Linda reminds us that while we can't
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always choose what happens to us, we can choose how
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we respond to it. In this conversation, we talk about
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navigating grief, rebuilding after tragedy, discovering purpose through pain, and
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what it really looks like to find hope again even
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when life looks nothing like you expected. Linda is absolutely amazing.
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I met her at an orthotic and Prosthetic conference for
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my Georgia licensure, and her story was so moving, and
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the energy and positivity that she brings to her life
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is just unmatched. And it's something that I really wanted
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to bring to the podcast here because it's so inspiring
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to me how people who've been through so much can
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still bring so much hope and beauty to the world
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after just extreme circumstances, and it just gives so much
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hope to the rest of us. So I can't wait
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for you guys to hear and learn from Linda.
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Let's dive in.
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All right, everyone, Welcome back to the Abundance Formula podcast.
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Linda, I'm so excited you're here. With us today.
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Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to
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be here today.
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Yeah, it's great to see you again.
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Okay, you guys.
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I am so excited that Linda's here with us today.
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I met her back at GSOP, which is my Orthotic
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and Prosthetic Georgia, the meeting that I do for my
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licensure in Georgia, and Linda was brought in. I feel
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like I met you one other time, but we couldn't
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never figure out where it was. But I just knew
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I'd heard your story. Like, her story is just so incredible.
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So they had her come talk to us along with
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some other people, and her stories are so powerful and
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I was like, you have got to come on the podcast.
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So she is here with us today and I'm so
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grateful thanks for having me. Well, so just to start out,
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please tell everybody your backstory how you've arrived at where
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you are today, and then it'll makes so much sense
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as people hear the questions that we have to dive into.
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After that.
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Yeah, absolutely so. I grew up in rural South Georgia
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and loved being here when away to school, came back
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married and started having my family, have four amazing children,
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three boys and a little girl, and they were just
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the delightful part of my life. And so I stayed
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home with them for over sixteen years, and that was
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really my focus for so long. And so we've been
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a very active family. We've earned races together. All my
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kids played some sort of sport, and so we've done
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like marathon relay together. And then Sophia, the youngest, my
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only girl, she and I were training for a triathlon
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and so it was a summer beginning of her senior year,
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and so we were going out for a bike rid
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and we were doing a ten mile out and back
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course and so we leaded the bikes up in the
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car and went out to the north side of town
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where it's not as busy, and we unloaded at a
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friend's house and I just bought of those biker shorts,
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you know, and if you Mady wears those, they know
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it's not super comfortable. And she's like, oh, this is terrible.
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I said, listen, you're gonna appreciate them about seven miles in,
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so just enjoy. So we were laughing, having a good time,
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and so we get to an intersection and nothing's coming
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either way, and we turn left and then the next
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thing I remember was me kneeling beside her lifeless body,
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trying to breathe life back into her, giving her CPR.
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And what we found out later was that we had
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been struck by a full size truck going over sixty
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miles an hour and she was killed instantly, and I
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was injured from head to toe. So the sheriff deputies
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had to pull me off for body so they could
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tend to me, and they put me in the ambulance,
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and I remember the guy at the in the mus
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stretcher saying, miss Fisher, Miss Fisher. We did everything we could.
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And then I just don't remember anything for a while,
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because your mind just protects you, and so I don't
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remember getting to the hospital or getting out of the ambulance.
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But I remember waking up just dazed and staring at
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the ceiling, and my husband walked in from behind the
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tan curtain and the er and I said, she's gone,
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And he said what, And I said, she's gone. What
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he didn't realize was that morning she had gone with me.
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He'd gone out for a run with some friends earlier,
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so he did not know. In fact, on his way
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to the hospital, he tried to call her several times,
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and so then he realized that Sophia had passed away.
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And from there it was just a whirlwind of pain, heartache.
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Test They were taking me back for cat scans, scanning this,
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that and the other, and of course they couldn't give
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me any medicine because they didn't know if I needed
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emergency surgery, you know, immediately, and so they wouldn't give
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me anything for a while. I had My right ear
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was ripped off a good deal. They had over a
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dozen stitches just to reattach it from the bike helmet.
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My right hip was bruised from my waist in my
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mid thigh, I fractured eight vertebrae in my back. I
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shattered my left ankle. I was just a mess physically,
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not to mention emotionally, because I just remember this cry
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from deep within in the er and it was just
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from the utter depths of my soul, because I lost
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my child. Finally, when they realized internally I wasn't bleeding
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or anything and I didn't have to have immediate surgery,
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they were able to start giving me meds. And what
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the part that was hurt worst was my left ankle.
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I just shattered that, and so they got me fixed up,
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got into a room and at this point my boys,
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three of the boys, and so they were scattered all
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over the world. James is in the military, he was
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stationed in Guam. My middle son, Daniel, was actually in
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Italy visiting a friend. And then my youngest son was
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in Atlanta going to a soccer game that day. So
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we had to call all the boys back in and
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as God would orchestrate it, Daniel and James landed in
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Atlanta airport fifteen minutes apart, just one date apart, and
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so Daniel's now wife, Megan, picked them up and brought
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them down to the hospital, and so we had that
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Sunday together, and then the next day they transported me
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up to Macon to have to have trauma surgery on
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my left ankle, you know. And during that time, it's
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kind of like do you have a funeral and then
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do you have surgery? Or do you have surgery and
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then have funeral? I mean, just the decisions we had
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to make were so hard, and just ones you're like,
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can I just rewind and do this whole weekend over?
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But because of the Taylor's fracture, it was important to
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get the blood flow back to that bone as soon
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as possible. So we decided on the surgery and then
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the funeral. So I had surgery, came back home, and
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I had visitation at my church, had the funeral the
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next day, and it was absolutely the worst week of
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my life, as you can imagine. So that just started
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the beginning of a very dark season for me, and
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I'm glad I'm on the other side of it, but
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things progressed. That year was just full of physical pain.
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I never got out of that physical pain. The all
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my injuries, and especially that left ankle was so excruciating.
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I couldn't walk for the first twelve weeks, and then
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of course I gradually started putting some weight on it.
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I remember one of my favorite exercises was grabbing the
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marbles with the toes and picking them up in a cup.
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And I'm like, okay, I was training for a triathlon
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just weeks ago, and now I'm doing this, And so
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you know, that was heartbreaking, not only to have obviously
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my daughter had passed away, but my whole life, the
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way I functioned as a human had just come to
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an abrupt halt. And so as you can imagine too.
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I couldn't work much. I did. My work was very
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gracious to work with me. I gradually worked a little
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bit here and there, but even before I got to
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that point, I would have a girlfriend of the day
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come to my house and sit with me because I
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didn't want to be left alone with my own thoughts
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and the memories and the visions and even the dreams
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I had at night were just terrific with what I
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had seen, and so I carried that with me. But
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I didn't want to be alone, and so my husband
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was off at work, and so I would have a
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girlfriend of the day to come over. They'd you know,
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make sure I had breakfast. We'd talk or cry, or
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they'd let me sit in silence. They just let me
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lead that time. They'd feed me lunch, and then they'd
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put me down like a child for an app and
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then my husband would be home in the afternoon. So
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that was kind of my life for months on end
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for quite some time, and then about a year later,
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still in excruciating pain, crying every single day. And Daniel,
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our mental son, was the first to get married, so
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there were some bright spots in that time. So the
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boys started getting married so we had that marriage and
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that was fun and I was able to walk. In fact,
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for Sophia's birthday about eight months later, I was able
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to walk with many of the family members of five
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k on Sophia's birthday. It actually fell on a Saturday,
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so we were able to walk a five k and
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that was very special. So we did that again. That
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was part of who we were as a family, just
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to do those healthy and fun things together as a family.
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So we were able to do that. Then Daniel got
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married and that was great, but my ankle wasn't better
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and said they thought another surgery would help out get
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some range of motion. So I went into surgery and
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my husband that weekend before said that he wanted a divorce,
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and that was just heartbreaking, this hardest time in my life.
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We'd had difficulties in our marriage, for sure, but when
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I needed someone the most, he was walking out the door.
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And so I had surgery and then I come home
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with no one to take care of me, and I
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can't walk again, back in the wheelchair. And again not
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just the physical because I was hard enough, but the
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emotional all of it wrapped up together. It was a
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third year marriage and it was just cast aside, and
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it was heartbreaking, but I didn't have the strength to
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pour into anything to try to fix. I was honestly
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trying to survive day by day by day. In fact,
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I know the Wold adage just wan day at a time.
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There were that early those early months, I just prayed, Lord,
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get me to lunch, Lord, just get me through to
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nap time, get me through to tonight, because it was
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just so hard thinking I'm going to sleep and I've
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got to wake up and just do this all over again.
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And this was not the life I wanted to lead.
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It's not what I was used to leading, and so
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it was heartbreaking on so many measures. And then some
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more boys, I had some surgeries in there, and the
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other two boys got married. But I'm so grateful that
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I was able to dance with all three of my
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boys at their wedding reception, so that was very special
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to me. It was painful, but I was definitely gonna
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do it. So I never got out of pain those
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three and a half years I was And when I calculated,
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I only walked about two of the last the four
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years during this season in my life, so it was
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in a wheelchair. Crutches, scooter or something. And so so
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about three and a half years in, I'm like, I
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can't do this. I cannot have surgery every single year
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trying to get through this. And not only was it
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the surgery, it was just the anticipation anytime I would
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hear an ambulance go by. It was just the trauma
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of all that wrapped up together and it was absolutely heartbreaking.
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And so I just needed an end. So I went
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to different I went to someone up National, Tennessee. He
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referred me to somebody at Duke, and I was just
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trying to get the lay of the land. Okay, can
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I be fixed? And basically the answer was we're not sure,
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but we can keep trying. And that wasn't a good
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enough answer for me. I just couldn't keep doing this.
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You know, maybe if I was twenty five, but at
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that point in time, I was fifty two, and I'm like,
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I can't keep going through this time and time again.
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And so I decided I said, well, if you can't
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fix me, will you cut it off? And those like, well,
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I'm glad to let me say that, because a lot
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of people will not let me say the word amputation.
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But I knew although I didn't know one amputee, I
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knew the technology was out there. I knew that the
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science had caught up. I knew that there had to
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be a better life out there for me without this angle.
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And so that three and a half to four years
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is when I had an amputation below the knee on
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the left side and recovered. And then four years after,
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the day after Sophia's funeral is when I got my
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first prosthetic. And so that was a wonderful time. And
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the very next day I had physical therapy scheduled. I
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was ready to go. I was ready to engage back
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and get fully involved. And within two weeks now I
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hadn't use that leg, so my hip, muscles, my glutes,
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my quads, all of it feed. But within two weeks
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I was walking unassisted. Within two months I was running
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on a treadmill, And in three and a half months
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I went hiking in North Carolina, and five and a
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half months that Christmas, I was able to go snow
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skiing with my children out in Park City, Utah. So
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I was so grateful for just getting through those four
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years of excruciating emotional, physical pain and get to the
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other side. And really losing my leg. I willingly gave
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it up, but getting rid of that part of my
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life really helps me regain my life back. So I'm
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so glad to be on the other side of this
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very deep, hard valley to walk through, and I'm grateful
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for where I am today.
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M hm.
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Oh gosh, there's just there's just so much incredibleness throughout
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that whole thing. I can't, you know, wait for people
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to be able to gain the wisdom from what you've
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gone through and been refined by. So the first thing
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that I think is just so powerful for us to
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mention is kind of what either beliefs or expectations or
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again literally, what were some of the things you found
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you had to let go of in order to move
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forward and truly create something new. The old life was
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done at that point, you know what it was, and
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so clinging to that at some point doesn't allow you
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the freedom to move forward. So how did that look
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in your mind shifting into the passing into this a
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new season, not as a loss, but how could you
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make it freedom?
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Well, and I would say, prior to this, I would
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be your typical control freak, thinking that I can control
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those around me, my children, and all the aspects of life.
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And I think it was you know, after the accident,
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I realized there is very there are very few things
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that I can control, and one of those is how
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I respond to those things that happened to me. This
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was an accident. It was a young man that hit us.
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He did not willingly set out that day to take
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a life. But it was so important that I let
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go of the control. I had to let go of
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my pride to to ask my girlfriends to come over
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and sit with me. That was pretty easy the first surgery,
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but then when my husband left and I had to
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ask them to come back the second surgery, and for
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I think I've had about six surgeries since the accident.
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You know, they haven't just loved me and been with
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me through the first incident. They have been with me
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now for eight years, and they continue to be. In fact,
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I had a total hip replacement just this past December,
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and again they came over, brought food, brought me books
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to read, spent time with me. And that's just the
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kind of community that we have here in my church,
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in this small town, and I'm so grateful for that.
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But just having that percept that change in mindset that
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I don't control things and I've got to get rid
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of my pride and I have to ask for help.
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And that's hard to do when I was willing and
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able to do most everything in my life before, but
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now I physically could not do those things and I
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needed other people's help.
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M hm.
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And then what did you find you had to kind
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of let go of What did the forgiveness process look
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like for you, whether it be for the truck driver
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or you know, your husband leaving like because that's huge,
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and just ultimately being able to heal, you.
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Know, on the deepest portion. Ultimately, Yeah, I.
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Did go to the court where I did see the
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young gentleman that hit us, and I had a response
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that I had and made sure that my children were
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able to read through it and edit it a little bit.
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And so it was during COVID when I went to
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court and read through that, and I didn't want that
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young man to know that we offered him forgiveness. And
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because that's what Jesus Christ did for all of us.
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You know, he did change my life forever and it's
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not for the better, but I can't hold on to
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that pain, and he has to remember that day as well,
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and he's got to carry that with him. So that
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is not something I would wish on anyone. Now for
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my husband, it's it's I will say honestly that that
347
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is even harder for me because one he's never asked forgiveness.
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The young Gentleman did ask for forgiveness, but for his actions.
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You know, we expect those that are closest to us
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to take care of us, especially when they vowed in
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sickness and health till death to us apart for seeking
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all others, and so when he didn't do that, it
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really hits so deeply. But I think forgiveness and love
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are a lot the same, you know. With Christ is
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just we choose, we choose to love our husband every
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day or choose to lose, choose to love our spouse,
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And I think that goes with the forgiveness too. I
358
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have to choose every day to say, you know, I
359
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forgive you help my unforgiveness. You know, there's still some there,
360
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and I'm definitely it's it's not all gone. There is
361
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a lot of hurt and it's been very hard because
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our expectations of those closest to us are to care
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for us and are to love us, especially when they
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made that commitment in that vowel.
365
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Yeah.
366
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Well, and I think one thing that's been incredible that
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you've done, and I know we talked about this the
368
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other day.
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Tell everybody kind of the talking through the valley, you
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know that verse.
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Tell them kind of how you view that and how
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that made.
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A big difference in this whole process for you.
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Yes, you know it says yay though and Psalm twenty three,
375
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yay though, I walk through the valley of the shadow
376
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of death. That is an action verb. And so we can't,
377
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you know, as we're going through this valley, we can't
378
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set up a tent. We can't sit there and wine.
379
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We can cry, we can keep having a forward motion
380
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in that. And I will be honest, I think there
381
00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:10.200
were times that my friends, basically I feel like they
382
00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:12.640
were just dragging me through the valley. It helped me
383
00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:16.680
keep going forward because I didn't have it within me.
384
00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:21.039
There wasn't that drive. And I'm a very driven person.
385
00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:23.720
I've always had goals. I always have it to do list,
386
00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:26.599
you know, I want to succeed, I want to do
387
00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:31.319
the next thing. But they really carried me through the
388
00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:34.039
valley through those darkest days, and then I feel like
389
00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:36.640
I just crawled a little bit and then was able
390
00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:39.279
to stand up, you know, and get to the other side,
391
00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:42.119
because I know once we get through the valley and
392
00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.920
up the mountains just a little bit, we can see
393
00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:49.640
some much better views. And that's been so good. Now
394
00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:51.960
we're still gonna slept and sometimes I'll be I still
395
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.480
feel like it doesn't take me much to get to
396
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.960
the edge of the cliff and I feel like I'm
397
00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:00.000
going over. There are still those days, their anniversary, Sophia's birthdays.
398
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.119
There are those things that will that will hurt me.
399
00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:05.559
You know, you feel like you've just you're living it
400
00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:08.799
all over again, and those are hard days. But I
401
00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:11.279
know I've been through the valley and through the darkest
402
00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:14.799
part at this point, and I'm up the mountain a
403
00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:16.759
little bit, so it feels a lot better.
404
00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:20.000
And I know we've also talked about kind of this
405
00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:25.079
concept of doing hard things and kind of building the
406
00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:28.599
resilience around that tell everyone kind of what that was like,
407
00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:30.319
and I know the example gave to me was kind
408
00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:32.880
of going back to church for the first time and
409
00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:33.920
what that looked.
410
00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:35.720
Like and how you kind of equated that to.
411
00:22:37.319 --> 00:22:40.079
Like a workout almost even, and how that relates to grief.
412
00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:42.440
I loved that whole, like analogy you gave me.
413
00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:46.599
Yeah, I wish that I could say our family motto
414
00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:49.559
was some beautiful bobble verse, but honestly it was and
415
00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:52.160
it was suck it up. And so you know when
416
00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:55.400
our kids came in and we'd always say, blood flutterfire.
417
00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:57.440
You know, that's the only reason you can interrupt us,
418
00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:01.119
blood flutterfire. So there were you know, we had some
419
00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:06.480
very some parenting skills that made some strong children. For one.
420
00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:09.319
So I've always felt like, well, you got to suck
421
00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:11.680
it up. Sometimes you have to do the hard things
422
00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:15.000
to get through and so it doesn't become part again.
423
00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:19.160
And so for church was it was extremely hard for
424
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me to go back to church. One I was in
425
00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:24.359
physical pain, but we as a family of six sat
426
00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:28.680
there in the middle in the center row, worshiping together.
427
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.720
And then here I am trying to go back to church.
428
00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:36.039
My boys are all in college or out of college,
429
00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:40.359
so they're not home. So here I am alone going
430
00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:43.720
to church. And this is where we had the visitation,
431
00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:46.039
this is where we had the funeral. So just kind
432
00:23:46.039 --> 00:23:49.559
of reliving all those things. It was very difficult. So
433
00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:51.920
I text my good friend Lisa. I'm like, are you
434
00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:54.359
going to be at church? And she's like, yes, I'll
435
00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:56.039
save you a seat. So she'd always save me a
436
00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.839
seat on the edge. And to start with, I would
437
00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:01.480
come late and I would leave early so I didn't
438
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:03.799
have to talk to anybody, and just I would do
439
00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:05.960
that for a while, and this took years. I mean
440
00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:09.079
this took several years. And then I would go late
441
00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:12.000
and i'd stay till it was all the way over
442
00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:14.039
and talk to maybe a few people, and then I
443
00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:18.240
would leave. So just building up what I was able
444
00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:22.480
to emotionally handle. And it's honestly because we were so
445
00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:25.200
well loved and people care and they want to come
446
00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:27.240
up and make sure I'm okay and hug me. But
447
00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:29.759
there's only so much you can take of that at
448
00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:34.079
one time. And so then it got to where I
449
00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:36.279
could go early and sit with them, and I could
450
00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.160
stay late, and so and even and now to this day,
451
00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:41.000
I don't have to check with anybody, Hey are you
452
00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:41.680
going to be there?
453
00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:41.920
Can?
454
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Can I have somebody, you know, a wing man by me,
455
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I'll go. I'll sit with a friend or sit by myself,
456
00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:50.720
and it's perfectly okay because I was able to build
457
00:24:50.759 --> 00:24:53.480
that resilience. And I was thinking about this. This has
458
00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:56.400
been eight years since the accident and since Sophia's death,
459
00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:00.799
and I was thinking about that and grief and does
460
00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:05.599
it really get easier eight years later? And I don't
461
00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:09.200
think that the weight of the grief changes. I think
462
00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:12.640
it's as heavy now as it is as it was
463
00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:16.400
eight years ago. But it's kind of like exercise. If
464
00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:19.519
I'm going to lift a barbell with seventy five pounds
465
00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:22.000
the first time, I may need some spotters. I may
466
00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:25.960
need somebody to help me to pick up that bar
467
00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:29.599
and to lift that But if I do it every
468
00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:32.720
single day, it's going to get a little bit easier.
469
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:33.079
Now.
470
00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:35.000
If I don't eat right, if I don't get enough rest,
471
00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:36.880
I may have to ask the spotters to come back
472
00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:39.200
and to help me out again, and we'll try again.
473
00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:42.599
And I kind of and but over time, in a
474
00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:44.680
year and two years, I'm going to be able to
475
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:48.039
pump that bar up a lot easier than I was
476
00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:51.079
when I first started. Now, the weight of the bar
477
00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:55.119
hasn't changed at all, but the strength that I've built
478
00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:58.319
and the microtears and my muscles have changed. And I
479
00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:00.359
think that's a lot with grief. You know, we have
480
00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:03.359
to go through those hard things. We have to lift
481
00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:05.279
the grief, we have to carry it with us. We
482
00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:07.440
have to ask people to come spot us and like, hey,
483
00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:11.400
I'm having a bad day, will you come help? And
484
00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:14.440
so some days you'll slip back a little bit and
485
00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:17.640
can't carry it as well. But I don't believe that
486
00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:20.920
the grief, the weight of that actually gets lighter, because
487
00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.400
it is very heavy. It's very hard. I just think
488
00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:27.839
the ability to carry it gets easier because I've done
489
00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:29.720
it now for several years.
490
00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:32.480
And I love how you've talked about and you can
491
00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:34.799
shareity extra ones you feel like you haven't mentioned yet,
492
00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:37.200
but you know kind I like that analogy because it
493
00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.519
can help people, especially if they're, like you said, your
494
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:42.160
brain when you're just in shock and overwhelmed with just
495
00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:44.920
all the things life's throwing at you. I love that
496
00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:48.440
just simple analogy of the gym and some resistance training,
497
00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:50.960
because then it can even thinking of your physical health
498
00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:53.559
and that way give you ideas of Okay, So if
499
00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:56.640
if the grief I'm dealing with is this way, what
500
00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.599
are the ways I can support myself in getting better
501
00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:02.880
quota quote at lifting this weight in the gym, And
502
00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:04.440
like you said, there's things that equate.
503
00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:06.400
To like your nutrition or your supports as well.
504
00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:08.880
So I know you've sounded like you've been very diligent
505
00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:12.400
about like being willing to tap into your community and
506
00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:15.960
your friends, like coming to take care of you, saving
507
00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.119
you a seat. Is there any other things that you
508
00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:21.240
did to kind of take care of your health around
509
00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:25.240
this relationship with you know, building the strength to carry
510
00:27:25.240 --> 00:27:27.880
your grief well and in a way that allows you
511
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:30.079
to live a purposeful life still that can still be
512
00:27:30.119 --> 00:27:33.079
powerful and impactful and one that both you and your
513
00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:35.759
daughter are proud of well.
514
00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:38.640
And I do think that's kind of just making sure
515
00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:41.400
we do have a vision and I try to every
516
00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:44.359
year just kind of write out a vision statement like
517
00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:46.799
what am I going to do? And I want to
518
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:49.559
honor God, I want to honor the life of Sophia.
519
00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:55.920
And it's so important that we focus on those things
520
00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:00.119
and not only the physical health, but but obviously I
521
00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:02.400
I've been to counseling, and I think that's important for
522
00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:05.960
our mental health, especially those early days when I'm just
523
00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:09.519
like I don't even know which way is up having
524
00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:12.440
someone to help you out. And I remember one time
525
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:16.519
when I went and it was before Daniel's wedding, and
526
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:21.079
it was so simple. But my therapist, she said, I said,
527
00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:23.079
I want to enjoy this day, you know, I want
528
00:28:23.079 --> 00:28:26.799
to enjoy this wonderful celebration, but I know I'll never
529
00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:30.160
have that opportunity with Sophia. So I had that conflicting,
530
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:34.920
those conflicting emotions within me. And she said, just put
531
00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:37.640
your shoes where you can see them when you lay
532
00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:39.440
down at night, the shoes you're going to dance in,
533
00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:41.759
because I had my dancing shoes and so I put
534
00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:45.400
them there, and I was just thinking about what we
535
00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:47.759
were about to celebrate, and that was just so good
536
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:51.400
to focus on the future and what I was going
537
00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.720
to have in Megan, a wonderful daughter in law, and
538
00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:56.839
not what i'd lost. And yes, I can grieve that,
539
00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:00.920
but this was a celebration of this wonderful marriage, and
540
00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:05.400
so you know, just having a purposeful focus on what
541
00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:08.240
I need to focus on. It was very simple, but
542
00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:10.200
it was very purposeful, and it was just one thing.
543
00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:12.680
It was like just those little bites, kind of like
544
00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:15.039
lifting weights one at a time, just one little thing
545
00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:17.440
at a time. I'm going to focus on the positive
546
00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:20.000
and this wonderful marriage that's in front of us.
547
00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:23.039
Yeah, I love that. That's so great.
548
00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:27.000
And so how can people who want to be supportive
549
00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:29.799
as friends? I know we've talked about this as well,
550
00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:31.480
and you just had a great response to it of.
551
00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:34.079
Just how to be helpful to people who are and gragedy.
552
00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:36.599
People often don't know what to say, to say nothing,
553
00:29:36.680 --> 00:29:38.720
what to do, how they can help, and I know
554
00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:40.240
you had some really great thoughts on that.
555
00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.359
For people that want to be supportive.
556
00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:45.000
It is very hard. And I know I've been on
557
00:29:45.319 --> 00:29:48.640
you know, before this happened to me, I thought, you know,
558
00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:51.160
looking back, I'm like, boy, I didn't handle that well.
559
00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:55.640
But yeah, there are some things I remember, even going
560
00:29:55.680 --> 00:30:00.400
through the line for the visitation, the only thing people
561
00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:03.240
could say it was just there are no words. Because
562
00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.039
there are no words, what do you what do you say?
563
00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:07.720
There are no words that can take away the pain.
564
00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:12.400
One thing is, you know the old adage is kind
565
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:14.680
of like, let me know what you need. Well, I
566
00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:17.319
can tell you there were months, maybe the first year,
567
00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:19.240
I didn't even know what I needed. I knew I
568
00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.119
needed nutrition, and the yard cleaned every now and then.
569
00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:26.240
But you know, so I always suggest to people just say, hey,
570
00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.119
I'm bringing supper, can I bring it Tuesday or Thursday?
571
00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:31.799
And just say, hey, I'm clean going to clean your yard?
572
00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:34.400
Is eight o'clock too early in the morning to you know,
573
00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:37.480
just go ahead and make the plan and then make
574
00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:39.440
sure the time's okay with them. But that's just a
575
00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:42.279
way that you can do that, because somebody in grief
576
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:45.599
is not going to pick up the phone normally and say, hey,
577
00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:49.200
I need dinner tonight. You know, they you know they
578
00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:51.880
need dinner, just schedule it. And so I would say,
579
00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:55.799
be proactive in those steps on how you can do that.
580
00:30:56.359 --> 00:30:59.799
And we had again so many people just loved us well.
581
00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:04.000
Our local lumberyard, Short and paulk donated all the wood.
582
00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:08.720
The Boy Scouts made me a ramp, medical supply place,
583
00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:12.279
dropped off all the things that I would need, wheelchair, everything.
584
00:31:12.920 --> 00:31:15.359
My pharmacists went to the pharmacy on July fourth at
585
00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:18.160
eleven o'clock at night to get me another medicine because
586
00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:21.759
this was right after surgery, before visitation, and so they
587
00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:25.359
have just loved us so very well, just doing what
588
00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:28.640
you know, was maybe even in their job, whether it
589
00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:34.920
was the pharmacist or the lumber company, or our trash people,
590
00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:37.839
Golden Environmental. They brought up two trash cans because we
591
00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:40.799
had so many people here, so many so much trash,
592
00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:43.880
just food, trash and from people, family and friends coming in.
593
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:47.359
So just whatever you can do that's in aligns with
594
00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:50.240
even your job and what you're good at, just give
595
00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:52.559
that abundantly to those that are in grief.
596
00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:55.319
Yeah, I think that's such a great point because, like
597
00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:58.759
you said, it's not you know, something you've experienced before,
598
00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:02.039
hopefully not. You know, like so you don't really know.
599
00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:03.880
You don't know what you're gonna need. You don't know
600
00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:05.039
what you'll forget that you need.
601
00:32:05.079 --> 00:32:07.119
Like you said, to forget to eat is comment.
602
00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:09.759
You know, it's like you don't remember what day it is.
603
00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:14.279
So it's just like, uh, just the concept of again
604
00:32:14.279 --> 00:32:15.200
and again. You know, it's hard.
605
00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:16.799
You don't want to be a burden on people, and
606
00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:20.000
so to help people not have one more hurdle to overcome,
607
00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:22.680
like asking for help just be you know, it just
608
00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:25.400
feels good to have one less barrier to entry of like, hey,
609
00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:27.519
bring in, bring in your lunch. What's you know, does
610
00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:29.599
this sound tasty to you? I'll bring it, you know,
611
00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:32.039
And that just is such a simple thing, but it's
612
00:32:32.039 --> 00:32:34.599
hard for us to think of when you just, especially
613
00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:37.920
if you haven't been through something as tragic, you just
614
00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:40.759
don't really know the thoughts and the things happening. So
615
00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:43.200
I think that's that's just was really great point that
616
00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:45.319
I thought it would be helpful for people to hear.
617
00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:50.039
And I'll say this too. You know, in grief it
618
00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:52.640
is so physically draining as well. Not only did I
619
00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:57.000
have my physical injuries, but the grief was just draining.
620
00:32:57.200 --> 00:33:01.240
So like to your point, asking some one to do something,
621
00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:03.240
I felt like that took a lot out of me
622
00:33:03.319 --> 00:33:05.359
and I didn't want to burden somebody, and I surely
623
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:08.440
didn't want to burden somebody, you know two years later
624
00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:11.720
for surgery and you know, to bring me dinner yet again.
625
00:33:11.880 --> 00:33:15.039
But those they continue to and they kept feed the
626
00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:17.359
dogs when I was out of town or whatever the
627
00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:21.119
case may be. But you know, just being proactive and
628
00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:24.759
not waiting for someone to ask really does help out
629
00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:26.880
someone in grief or in pain.
630
00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:30.960
Yes, I totally that just makes so much sense.
631
00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:34.920
So one last thing to kind of talk about this,
632
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:36.519
I want to take it kind of more to where
633
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:39.519
what you've been doing now, you know, moving through that
634
00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:43.279
now the amazing things you are doing. But can you
635
00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:46.160
talk people through a little bit again, just having experienced
636
00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:49.440
something like this, the faith journey for you, your relationship
637
00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:53.240
with God through it, what that looked like, kind of
638
00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:55.559
what you believe he thinks about, what you know?
639
00:33:55.680 --> 00:33:56.799
This process together?
640
00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:00.440
Yeah, and it's been a hard one, you know sometimes
641
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:03.599
when you go through something so devastating as this. And
642
00:34:03.640 --> 00:34:06.519
it wasn't just one loss or two, it was three
643
00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:11.360
pretty big losses at a time. I'm fortunate that I
644
00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:16.280
grew up believing and knowing that God is sovereign. Doesn't
645
00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:18.400
mean I have to like all this this happened, because
646
00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:22.679
I certainly don't. But I do believe that God is
647
00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:26.400
sovereign and I am not, and I don't understand it,
648
00:34:26.519 --> 00:34:28.320
and I don't like it. You know. I feel like
649
00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:32.079
God could have saved Sophia. God could have restored my marriage.
650
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:36.039
God could have healed my ankle, but he didn't. But yet,
651
00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:38.599
I still know that He is sovereign. And so when
652
00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:41.760
we can't feel it, you know in our heart, we
653
00:34:41.800 --> 00:34:45.519
don't feel the warmth I knew in my head. I'm
654
00:34:45.559 --> 00:34:48.400
like he is sovereign, and I knew that, and I
655
00:34:48.440 --> 00:34:53.239
didn't see. You know, sometimes you when you're close with
656
00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:55.280
God and you're reading your Bible, and you just you
657
00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:57.679
could feel that. But for me, I didn't feel it
658
00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:00.159
because it was so grief and it was so heavy,
659
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:04.320
and the weight of grief was upon me. But I
660
00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:08.320
saw the works of God through all these amazing people
661
00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:12.280
that helped us and that loved our family, and they
662
00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:17.760
were continually showing me the love of Christ. I remember
663
00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:24.280
asking my former pastor. He came over early in the process,
664
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:28.239
and I remember just saying, Papa Roofs, I don't understand
665
00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:31.800
why all this has happened, because you know, you read
666
00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:34.880
what you sew and this is not what I sowed.
667
00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:37.320
You know, I should not this should not be happening
668
00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:40.480
to me. And he directed my attention and he said, Linda,
669
00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:44.159
look at all the people who are loving you and
670
00:35:44.199 --> 00:35:47.960
caring for you. And that really gave me that shift
671
00:35:47.960 --> 00:35:52.800
in perspective to focus on again the positive. And yes,
672
00:35:52.840 --> 00:35:55.360
there were terrible things that happened. Yes I miss Sophia
673
00:35:55.639 --> 00:36:00.679
every day, but there are wonderful people around me who
674
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:03.920
have loved me. And just looking at it through a
675
00:36:03.960 --> 00:36:05.719
different lens M hmm.
676
00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:08.559
Yeah, I think that's really really incredible.
677
00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:12.920
So once you started getting back to movement, I know
678
00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:15.199
you said, movement is healing. What are some of the
679
00:36:15.239 --> 00:36:19.159
things that you've discovered about yourself that you didn't know
680
00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:24.039
or would not have ever known without this being your journey?
681
00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:25.800
You know, what are you proud.
682
00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:27.440
Of or like, dang, wow, look at look at what
683
00:36:27.559 --> 00:36:27.880
I did.
684
00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:29.119
Look at where we're at now.
685
00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:33.199
Well, I had so many losses, like one after the
686
00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:37.760
other after the other. I immediately needed to start putting some
687
00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:40.480
winds in the wind column. So I was determined, we
688
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:44.159
have got to conquer some things. So that's why I immediately,
689
00:36:44.519 --> 00:36:47.599
you know, wanted to start running. I which was kind
690
00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:49.519
of stupid. I'll be honest with you. It's not the
691
00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:52.599
easiest thing to walk in across these is much less.
692
00:36:52.679 --> 00:36:55.000
Let's just take off and do a five k, you know, so,
693
00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:58.079
but I did that. But I was so determined. I
694
00:36:58.119 --> 00:37:00.480
wanted to walk. I wanted to run, I wanted to hike,
695
00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:03.599
and I wanted to snow ski with my kids. One
696
00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:09.760
thing is, I know, you know, they lost their their sister,
697
00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:12.639
they lost their family unit, they lost the mother that
698
00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:15.840
they knew and they were now taking care of the
699
00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:19.559
mother that had taken care of them, and while they
700
00:37:19.559 --> 00:37:22.400
did it with such grace and everything, I wanted to
701
00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:25.519
have the family dynamics that we'd had before, and wanted
702
00:37:25.800 --> 00:37:29.639
so much as to just enjoy some athletic adventures together,
703
00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:32.119
so hiking, and I've been hiking with my boys in
704
00:37:32.280 --> 00:37:36.679
Utah and again just snow skiing with them. I remember
705
00:37:36.719 --> 00:37:38.639
even one of them saying, you know, afterwards, I like,
706
00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:40.199
I can't believe I did that, you know, I was
707
00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:44.400
just so proud of myself. And again because my left hip,
708
00:37:44.440 --> 00:37:46.559
I had to just really trust my left hip to
709
00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:51.199
hold and and he said, Mom, I didn't think you
710
00:37:51.239 --> 00:37:54.039
were going to do that well either. So they while
711
00:37:54.079 --> 00:37:56.760
they were always cheering me on and it was so
712
00:37:56.760 --> 00:38:00.280
sweet because I had going down and speak speaking of
713
00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:03.760
that the trauma I had when I first went down.
714
00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:09.239
As I started getting closer and the runs got tighter
715
00:38:09.239 --> 00:38:12.320
and tighter, and the noise of the people going by
716
00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:15.920
were going fast, and I got so anxious, and I'm
717
00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:20.519
not an anxious person pre accident, I got so anxious
718
00:38:20.599 --> 00:38:23.880
and I remember just I ended up in my oldest
719
00:38:23.880 --> 00:38:29.079
son's chest, just crying and so upset. Because my mind
720
00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:31.519
was a danger, danger, danger. You know, I'm gonna get
721
00:38:31.599 --> 00:38:35.239
hit from behind, I'm going to take a bad fall,
722
00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:37.119
and I'm gonna be injured again. I'm never gonna be
723
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:39.280
able to do this, and so it was just terrible.
724
00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:42.599
And I had the little the guys come and get
725
00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:43.960
me on his sled and they said, now we can
726
00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:46.000
take you all the way at the lodge. I said, no, no, no, no.
727
00:38:46.039 --> 00:38:48.840
If I don't ski out, I will never get back
728
00:38:48.920 --> 00:38:50.800
up on these skis. So they took me to a
729
00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:54.000
wide open space and I skied down to the lodge.
730
00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:56.719
And then the next year, the next day when we
731
00:38:56.800 --> 00:38:59.199
were skin it was so sweet because I felt like
732
00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:01.880
the President of the United States because I had like
733
00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:04.480
the house covered secret Service all around that I was
734
00:39:04.519 --> 00:39:07.960
following Naomi just behind me. I was flaning all the sides,
735
00:39:08.280 --> 00:39:11.000
nobody was getting in the perimeter. I was well taken
736
00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:13.400
care of, and it was just so sweet how my
737
00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:18.920
children have just really circled around me and loved me
738
00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:21.000
and taken care of me. And they've been proud of
739
00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:23.039
me too. I believe in this journey as well.
740
00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:26.880
Oh yeah, I'm sure. I mean, it's so inspiring, just
741
00:39:27.159 --> 00:39:29.000
and I'm not even related to you, just to be
742
00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:31.840
to see and hear the things. And again you're just
743
00:39:32.199 --> 00:39:34.719
you in person of course even on here on video,
744
00:39:34.840 --> 00:39:38.800
like you just give off good energy of you know, positive.
745
00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:41.400
You don't walk around like with a chip on their shoulder.
746
00:39:41.880 --> 00:39:44.920
I can tell that like the inspiration you draw upon
747
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:48.880
to live a beautiful and abundant life isn't like from
748
00:39:48.880 --> 00:39:51.239
a negative stance of like oh, I'm gonna show everyone,
749
00:39:51.360 --> 00:39:53.960
or I'm going to like, you know, show my husband
750
00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:56.000
my husband this, or I'm going to like you just
751
00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:58.880
don't come at it from from that negative space, but
752
00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:01.920
from just good and wanting to do good and be
753
00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:04.679
inspiring to other people and to advocate for others.
754
00:40:04.960 --> 00:40:06.440
And that's one thing I'd love for you to talk.
755
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:10.360
You moved into being a you know, an amputy advocate
756
00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:13.400
working with So Everybody Can Move. Tell everybody about that
757
00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:15.639
and the work that you've been doing there, because that's
758
00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:17.440
incredible stuff that I know I love being a part
759
00:40:17.480 --> 00:40:19.400
of and I know people would love to hear about.
760
00:40:20.039 --> 00:40:25.320
Yes, So Everybody Can Move is a nationwide movement where
761
00:40:26.119 --> 00:40:31.280
we're working to get secondary devices available for amputees and
762
00:40:31.320 --> 00:40:34.719
people with limb difference and limb laws, and so many
763
00:40:34.760 --> 00:40:37.119
of us want to run again, or bike or play
764
00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:40.599
a sport or sometimes it's just having a shower shower
765
00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:43.760
leg or you know, something to assist not just your
766
00:40:43.800 --> 00:40:47.639
every everyday leg that has to last for years and
767
00:40:47.719 --> 00:40:51.440
so and I don't think people realize it's not covered
768
00:40:51.480 --> 00:40:55.000
by insurance, and so we are working to get that covered.
769
00:40:55.079 --> 00:40:57.800
And then in the State of Georgia last year, the
770
00:40:57.880 --> 00:41:03.719
lawless passed that under circumstances, the companies do have to
771
00:41:03.800 --> 00:41:08.480
cover that secondary device for amputees. So that was such
772
00:41:08.519 --> 00:41:11.840
a big win. And then this year we had another
773
00:41:11.920 --> 00:41:15.119
part of that to have more people have it covered
774
00:41:15.119 --> 00:41:17.960
for them. So I'm actually covered this year with being
775
00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:22.000
on the state plan and so that was just really
776
00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:25.000
a win for the State of Georgia. I do have
777
00:41:25.039 --> 00:41:27.920
a running blade and I had I got that through
778
00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:30.480
Challenge Athletes Foundation, and so I had to get a
779
00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:34.000
grant to get that. But those grants aren't available to everybody.
780
00:41:34.880 --> 00:41:38.559
You know, there's obviously limited funds, limited donations, so everyone
781
00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:42.199
can't take advantage of that, and they're not just you know,
782
00:41:42.440 --> 00:41:46.039
given out these secondary devices. If you're not gonna get
783
00:41:46.039 --> 00:41:48.280
a running blade, if you weren't running prior to But
784
00:41:48.920 --> 00:41:51.320
in order to get us to live the life we
785
00:41:51.320 --> 00:41:54.639
were living before, we need those secondary devices. You know,
786
00:41:54.639 --> 00:41:57.760
if I tore my ACL, they'd given me surgery to
787
00:41:57.960 --> 00:42:00.679
let me repair that so I could say, play soccer again.
788
00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:04.679
But so we need the devices. We need the equipment
789
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:06.920
to make sure that we can live that full in
790
00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:10.079
abundant life going forward like we were.
791
00:42:10.159 --> 00:42:13.920
Before, right right, I mean because because just because someone
792
00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:16.719
you know has a limb difference or lost a limb, like,
793
00:42:16.760 --> 00:42:18.679
they're still human. So even I mean, I know, it
794
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:21.920
blows people's minds that even for like children, it's just
795
00:42:22.000 --> 00:42:24.280
one device, so you can prove that they've outgrown in
796
00:42:24.280 --> 00:42:27.000
and that we as practitioners have adjusted it as much
797
00:42:27.039 --> 00:42:29.960
as humanly possible for it to be doable before skin
798
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:33.119
irritation and breakdown. It's like, you know, kids are supposed
799
00:42:33.119 --> 00:42:35.000
to be able to be kids, Like the same kind
800
00:42:35.039 --> 00:42:36.920
of leg that lets them walk around school and do
801
00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:39.039
things isn't the same thing that would allow them to
802
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:41.079
do the activities they want to do in pe, or
803
00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:43.199
to run and keep up with everyone on the playground,
804
00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:45.480
or to want to try out for the track team.
805
00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:48.400
Like you know, it's it's like, see, I know so
806
00:42:48.440 --> 00:42:50.159
many people have been blown away to know that, like
807
00:42:50.239 --> 00:42:54.840
even kids, you know that that's just discounted or it's
808
00:42:54.920 --> 00:42:57.280
just not thought of. And it's like, but who there.
809
00:42:57.320 --> 00:42:59.360
If your kid was that, you would you not want
810
00:42:59.400 --> 00:43:01.000
them to be able to go do that? Or say
811
00:43:01.119 --> 00:43:03.400
if it's no different even for adults, like Okay, you
812
00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:06.559
already went through all this trauma. You know if something
813
00:43:06.679 --> 00:43:09.119
like that was just your therapy was to go for
814
00:43:09.320 --> 00:43:11.239
a jog or to take those walks, or to go
815
00:43:11.280 --> 00:43:13.440
on hikes, to be with your family's all athletic, those
816
00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:16.679
are the activities they want to go do, like you know,
817
00:43:16.719 --> 00:43:18.360
you should be able to do that, or even against
818
00:43:18.360 --> 00:43:21.800
a simple necessity of standing in the shower and not
819
00:43:21.840 --> 00:43:24.360
having to sit and maneuver your way in and out,
820
00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:26.760
and like all of that is is actually not a
821
00:43:26.800 --> 00:43:29.800
simple thing. We just forget about it because it seems
822
00:43:29.800 --> 00:43:33.039
simple until it's not until you don't have it, you know.
823
00:43:33.360 --> 00:43:36.639
And so it's just so interesting. So I love raising
824
00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:39.320
awareness about that because when people hear about it, they're
825
00:43:40.320 --> 00:43:42.199
they're not happy, just as other people are, like how
826
00:43:42.239 --> 00:43:42.960
do we change this?
827
00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:43.800
Who do we go to?
828
00:43:43.840 --> 00:43:44.920
Who's the state person?
829
00:43:45.639 --> 00:43:48.519
And I know you said, was it on the and
830
00:43:48.920 --> 00:43:50.800
I'll have it in the show notes, so everybody can
831
00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:54.039
move kind of like more national website to tell what's yeah.
832
00:43:54.599 --> 00:43:56.440
Yeah, so we do have it's a national movement, so
833
00:43:56.480 --> 00:43:58.840
we have it on the so everybody can move on
834
00:43:58.920 --> 00:44:00.679
website and you can go in there and check your
835
00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:02.800
state and they have a map of the state which
836
00:44:02.840 --> 00:44:06.000
ones where they are, if legislation has been introduced, if
837
00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:08.400
we've had laws that have been passed. So our goal
838
00:44:08.480 --> 00:44:11.920
is to get past twenty eight states by the year
839
00:44:11.960 --> 00:44:14.519
twenty twenty eight when the Paralympics are going to be
840
00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:16.760
in Los Angeles, and then we'd like to make it
841
00:44:16.840 --> 00:44:21.239
a federal law so that that will be covered for everyone.
842
00:44:21.400 --> 00:44:24.880
And so that's really what we're working forward and toward.
843
00:44:25.119 --> 00:44:27.599
And so we have people in all the different states
844
00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:31.760
working toward that, patient advocates, practitioners that are working hard
845
00:44:31.760 --> 00:44:33.800
for that. So it's been a fun journey to go
846
00:44:33.800 --> 00:44:36.559
to the Capitol and to talk with the different senators
847
00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:39.079
and the representatives. I do love some politics, and so
848
00:44:39.719 --> 00:44:41.199
it's been fun for me to go up there and
849
00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:43.719
talk and to share my story. And again, I just
850
00:44:43.760 --> 00:44:46.039
want out of all my story it's such a hard
851
00:44:46.079 --> 00:44:49.800
I've shed so many tears, so many tears, and I
852
00:44:49.840 --> 00:44:52.119
still shed a lot of tears, but I just don't
853
00:44:52.159 --> 00:44:54.599
want them to go to waste, you know, I want them.
854
00:44:55.119 --> 00:44:58.960
I want some good to come out of the bad situation.
855
00:44:59.119 --> 00:45:02.599
And that's really why I advocate for this, while why
856
00:45:02.679 --> 00:45:05.039
I love to to speak to different groups and while
857
00:45:05.039 --> 00:45:08.079
I love to write, because I just want there to
858
00:45:08.159 --> 00:45:10.679
be some positive and I want other people. I was
859
00:45:10.679 --> 00:45:13.760
so blessed to have people walk with me through this journey,
860
00:45:14.599 --> 00:45:17.840
and if I can somehow just encourage them to keep
861
00:45:17.920 --> 00:45:21.599
moving forward and to keep walking forward, I just want
862
00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:22.840
to be that for them.
863
00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:26.159
Mm hmm. Yeah. Well, and those tiers are definitely not
864
00:45:26.199 --> 00:45:26.599
going there.
865
00:45:26.679 --> 00:45:29.719
They're watering new seeds and people that again like that
866
00:45:29.719 --> 00:45:35.639
that energy and additional love and compassionate understanding of this
867
00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:38.440
world to continue stepping into life. They were called to
868
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:40.800
live no matter what happened to them. And you're a
869
00:45:40.840 --> 00:45:43.840
catalyst to make sure that you know, the enemy doesn't
870
00:45:43.840 --> 00:45:46.079
convince them otherwise with the lies that will be most
871
00:45:46.119 --> 00:45:49.360
certainly circulating in their minds in those times.
872
00:45:49.360 --> 00:45:51.719
So you're that voice of truth that's like, let me
873
00:45:51.760 --> 00:45:52.679
water you. I'm here.
874
00:45:53.119 --> 00:45:55.280
Okay, we can cry together, but we're gonna let it
875
00:45:55.320 --> 00:45:57.920
be watering what's growing in us. So I'm just so
876
00:45:58.039 --> 00:46:01.519
proud of you and admiration of you for that. So
877
00:46:02.119 --> 00:46:03.960
an interesting question I wanted to just kind of ask,
878
00:46:04.039 --> 00:46:05.599
is you know, if you were going to sit across
879
00:46:06.519 --> 00:46:09.159
from the version of yourself in the hospital just after
880
00:46:09.199 --> 00:46:11.719
the accident, what would you tell her that she wouldn't
881
00:46:11.719 --> 00:46:12.599
believe just yet?
882
00:46:13.280 --> 00:46:20.159
Mm hm oh, Well that's a tough one. Yeah, that
883
00:46:20.360 --> 00:46:22.880
you and they said from the very beginning, they said
884
00:46:23.119 --> 00:46:25.280
you will never run again. That was one thing. And
885
00:46:25.320 --> 00:46:27.920
again it's not that I love to run. I just
886
00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:32.719
love to eat. Therefore I run so uh, but I do.
887
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:35.880
I love the way my body feels when I'm running.
888
00:46:36.039 --> 00:46:40.840
And so I would tell myself in the hospital, you
889
00:46:40.920 --> 00:46:44.480
will survive this and not the not physically, because I
890
00:46:44.480 --> 00:46:49.119
never thought that my life was in jeopardy, but emotionally
891
00:46:49.280 --> 00:46:51.800
I thought my life was almost over, you know, And
892
00:46:51.880 --> 00:46:55.880
so that you will. You will rise up from the
893
00:46:55.920 --> 00:47:00.000
ashes and there will be beauty. And so that's probably
894
00:47:00.199 --> 00:47:01.159
what I tell myself.
895
00:47:02.199 --> 00:47:02.800
That's wonderful.
896
00:47:02.840 --> 00:47:03.280
I love that.
897
00:47:03.960 --> 00:47:08.239
Well, where can everybody find you? Follow you? Stab to date, y'all.
898
00:47:08.280 --> 00:47:10.840
She's working on a bug, so we're gonna make sure
899
00:47:10.840 --> 00:47:14.760
we have her on again once that is completed. But yeah,
900
00:47:14.760 --> 00:47:17.199
what do you guys don't want people to where do
901
00:47:17.199 --> 00:47:17.920
you want them to follow?
902
00:47:18.199 --> 00:47:20.840
Yeah, so they can. I have a website, Linda, and
903
00:47:20.880 --> 00:47:23.400
that's Linda with Y L Y N D A S.
904
00:47:23.960 --> 00:47:26.400
Fisher dot com. And I know they'll be in the
905
00:47:26.440 --> 00:47:28.440
show notes. So I do have a website, and so
906
00:47:28.480 --> 00:47:30.320
if you want to join me in a newsletter, I
907
00:47:30.360 --> 00:47:34.280
try to put those out, you know, once a month,
908
00:47:34.320 --> 00:47:38.199
twice a month, and and then on socials Linda S.
909
00:47:38.239 --> 00:47:41.599
Fisher on Facebook and Instagram and follow me, and you know,
910
00:47:41.679 --> 00:47:46.400
sometimes it's just a funny story of the guy at
911
00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:50.119
the airport who I had an extra prosthesis coming through
912
00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:53.239
and he my bag got pulled and he said, you
913
00:47:53.360 --> 00:47:56.719
got a trophy. I'm like no, and I pointed to
914
00:47:56.800 --> 00:47:59.119
my leg. He goes, oh, and he was real cute.
915
00:47:59.159 --> 00:48:00.000
He didn't even open the back.
916
00:48:00.199 --> 00:48:01.159
He just ended up to me.
917
00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:04.719
But sometimes it's just funny stories like that the life
918
00:48:04.719 --> 00:48:07.480
of an amputee. And then sometimes I like to share
919
00:48:07.559 --> 00:48:11.079
encouraging words and just what life looks like on this side. Again,
920
00:48:11.199 --> 00:48:13.920
just encourage people. I know people. When you walk through
921
00:48:13.960 --> 00:48:16.360
things like this, you do come into contact with people
922
00:48:16.360 --> 00:48:20.159
who've lost children. And there's more people than I ever realized,
923
00:48:20.199 --> 00:48:22.440
and it's a terrible club to be in. And then
924
00:48:22.599 --> 00:48:25.159
you realize, but all of us have loss, you know,
925
00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:30.119
all of us have lost in some way, whether it's health, relationships,
926
00:48:30.480 --> 00:48:33.239
you know, death of loved ones. We all have loss.
927
00:48:33.239 --> 00:48:35.360
So I just want to be that encouraging voice to them.
928
00:48:35.400 --> 00:48:38.599
So Facebook, Instagram, my website, love for you to join
929
00:48:38.679 --> 00:48:41.199
us there, sign up for the newsletter and we can
930
00:48:41.199 --> 00:48:41.800
stay in touch.
931
00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:43.159
That's awesome.
932
00:48:43.400 --> 00:48:46.199
Great, Well, now I have time for our very last question.
933
00:48:47.079 --> 00:48:49.519
What does living and abundant life mean to you? And
934
00:48:49.559 --> 00:48:51.519
if someone were to ask you how they could start
935
00:48:51.639 --> 00:48:52.199
to build.
936
00:48:51.960 --> 00:48:53.920
An abundant life for themselves, what would you tell them?
937
00:48:55.719 --> 00:48:58.679
For me? I still have those points in times, as
938
00:48:58.760 --> 00:49:03.800
anyone could imagine that I get down and I get upset,
939
00:49:03.920 --> 00:49:07.320
and I'm in sorrow and in grief and maybe even
940
00:49:07.400 --> 00:49:11.760
physical pain or some irritation for my prosthetic. But when
941
00:49:11.800 --> 00:49:15.840
I hit those lows again, I try to get beyond
942
00:49:15.840 --> 00:49:19.639
myself and when I think of when I'm missing Sophia,
943
00:49:19.679 --> 00:49:22.679
a little extra I will try to text another mom
944
00:49:22.719 --> 00:49:25.559
that I know that's also a child, because sometimes when
945
00:49:25.559 --> 00:49:28.320
we get past our grief, we realize, you know, we're
946
00:49:28.320 --> 00:49:31.079
not the only one, and we need to share some
947
00:49:31.239 --> 00:49:33.719
encouragement with someone else, because it means so much to
948
00:49:33.800 --> 00:49:36.840
me when I get a text that says thinking about you,
949
00:49:36.960 --> 00:49:42.360
praying for you again, just pushing that forward. And so
950
00:49:42.480 --> 00:49:45.519
when we think about someone else, we kind of take
951
00:49:45.559 --> 00:49:49.559
that off of ourselves, and so just looking forward and
952
00:49:49.639 --> 00:49:53.480
not looking inward to myself during those hard days that
953
00:49:54.039 --> 00:49:56.280
gives me the ability to have that amund of life.
954
00:49:56.760 --> 00:49:59.239
Thanks so much for listening. I hope that you love
955
00:49:59.280 --> 00:50:01.280
this episode and that it was able to help you
956
00:50:01.480 --> 00:50:03.559
move in the right direction towards building the.
957
00:50:03.519 --> 00:50:04.360
Life that you want.
958
00:50:04.920 --> 00:50:06.880
If you take just a quick moment to leave us
959
00:50:06.880 --> 00:50:10.440
a positive five star review, I'd be so so grateful
960
00:50:10.639 --> 00:50:12.559
and share with any friends that you think would love it.
961
00:50:13.079 --> 00:50:15.840
This not only helps spread the mission of this podcast, but.
962
00:50:15.760 --> 00:50:17.840
It helps to open the door to even more.
963
00:50:17.960 --> 00:50:21.320
Amazing guests and opportunities to better support you in amplifying
964
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your success and overflowing your cup with abundance. Thanks again, guys,
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and catch you on the next one.