On October 8, 2011, cycling home from work, Colleen Kelly Alexander was run over by a multi-ton freightliner. It rolled over her and dragged her along the road. When medics arrived, they found the young woman completely mangled from the stomach down: a broken pelvis and a severely de-gloved abdomen, leg, hips, vaginal area, and behind. She flatlined within minutes of arriving at Yale Trauma Center.
Colleen received over 70 blood transfusions – including whole blood platelets and plasma – after her body was left so drained of blood her heart lacked anything to pump. Requiring full resuscitation twice, Colleen remained in a coma for over five weeks. She endured multiple surgeries and severe wound management as her broken body struggled to heal. To date, Colleen has required over 24 surgeries to put her body back together. She lost her job. Her carefree sense of safety. Her dream of being a mother.
But she has been embraced by heroes: the bystander that ran into the road to stop traffic after she was run over. The emergency medics on scene. The countless medical professionals in the trauma bay. And even while she lay unaware, the nurses, aides, and doctors who cared for her so tenderly, every single day.
Rather than let the trauma and PTSD control her life, Colleen was determined to find a way to make something positive from her pain. She decided she’d run again and dedicate her race medals to the everyday heroes around us, including the medical staff and blood donors who saved her life. Since then Colleen has run fifty races and completed forty triathlons, including four half-Ironman events. Now a spokesperson for the Red Cross, Colleen shares her incredible inspirational story to encourage others to take that first step forward in her book, “Gratitude In Motion”.
Learn more about Colleen at www.colleenkellyalexander.com/.
Get Gratitude In Motion, for Colleen’s powerful testimony, determination and resilience to triumph.
