Rockin Girl Blogger

Today I would like to pick Leanne of Curious George Knits as a Rockin’ Girl Blogger.

Back in early 2006, Leanne was in training to compete in the Ironman Canada triathlon — that’s a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, ending in a 26.2 mile run. Any one of those would do me in, let alone all three one after the other. In her post of March 10, 2006, Leanne wished her readers an enjoyable weekend. She would not post after that for quite awhile. On her way to the coast with her husband and one of her children to enjoy their own weekend, their car hit a patch of black ice, spun into oncoming traffic and was broadsided. Husband and child walked away from the accident. Leanne’s pelvis was broken in five places and her foot in two. The triathlon was, needless to say, off. Even walking would be a struggle.

Over the days and weeks and months of her recovery, Leanne kept us informed of her progress with amazingly good spirits. She was realistic, but not fatalistic. And she knit. For awhile she knit a lot, because there wasn’t much else she could do. But as her pile of FOs grew, she also worked hard on getting better. Every small milestone was noted, and the next goal was laid out — over and over and over: walking with a walker, then walking with a cane, visiting the LYS, going to the grocery store. I can remember how excited she was one day in the LYS when she demonstrated how she had progressed from simply walking to skipping.

On August 26, 2007, a mere 17 months and 16 days after the accident that left her unable to walk — let alone run or bike — Leanne crossed the Ironman Canada finish line in Penticton, Canada, with her family around her. Because of the miracles of modern technology (the race was streamed over the internet), I saw the big grin on her face as she finished.

Leanne, you rock!