member spotlight
Pierce’s condition is not well
known, nor is it well understood. His
particular spinal cord injury, aside from
rendering him immobile for some time,
causes the brain stem to compress, leading
to a bodily imbalance. One side of his body
experiences things such as tightened neck
muscles, hamstrings, and calf muscles,
as well as contracted shoulder and spinal
muscles. The injury also causes that same
side’s shoulder to sit lower, the hip to be
raised, and the leg to be shorter.
All of these effects can result
in a variety of daily pain.
Over my whole life, my body
was twisting itself.
Eventually, I was completely
immobile for about four years. I
went from running 80-90 miles
a week and being extremely fit
to being immobile. I had several
different doctors who couldn’t
figure out what was happening,
and finally I found a doctor who
knew what was wrong with me.
I had gotten a recommendation
from the physical therapist here
at Elite, Andrew Rudawsky. He
would send all the patients that
he knew who needed more help
to this particular doctor. I saw him
and he knew what was wrong
with me right away. I have been
seeing him for the last three to
four years. From when I was
19-22, I didn’t know what was
wrong with me, so it was nice to
finally have someone who was
able to help me.
When I was 25, I was finally
able to walk again. It was the
only form of exercise I could do,
which was really boring for me as
someone who was used to more
strenuous activity. Last year I was
able to start swimming a little. It
My end goal is
to get healthy,
run again, and
break 4 minutes
to the mile.
was still pretty painful, but now
I can swim around 2 miles
every day.
I have also been doing yoga
and tai chi for the past year and a
half, which has been really helpful. I went skiing five times this
year and have mountain biked a
little bit. I want to be able to lift
again, so I am seeing a trainer
here about getting back into it.
I’m hoping to get back to being
able to compete [with running].
I’m going to try to race in a
triathlon this year, just the swim
part. I have friends who will do
a relay with me. My end goal is
to get healthy, run again, and
break 4 minutes to the mile. I
ran 4:20 when I was in high
school. I’m just happy to be back
in a gym. I’m really happy with
everything here.”
Swimming is a
low-impact sport, which is
why it works well for Pierce.
The water relieves tension and
pressure on your joints, while still
providing sufficient resistance
to engage and challenge
your muscles. For many
athletes recovering from an
injury, swimming is a
great option.
enhance magazine | MAY 2016
9