Paralympic silver medallist Kat O’Brien joins #OTP to discuss the wild journey that has led her to where she is today. Kate originally started in bobsled before suffering a hamstring injury, which led her to track cycling. From there, she competed for Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics. But the following year, she was involved in a horrific crash while training that changed her life forever. 

Kate was told she would never ride a bike again and spent a month in the hospital and many more recovering. In true Kate style, she didn’t let that stop her and hopped on a trainer as soon as she could. In today’s episode, Kate explains how getting back on the bike helped her recover both mentally and physically. 

Just last month, Kate competed at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games in Track Cycling, where she won a silver. Today she shares how hard it really was to come to terms with her new life. She also talks about the divide between able-body and para athletes and how she’d like to see that change. 

Episode topics: 

• Her journey to the 2016 Rio Olympics
• The crash that changed her life
• Being a Paralympic silver medallist
• Becoming ‘okay’ with where she’s at in life
• What she’d like to see change for Paralympic athletes

Quote:  

“There was a time, again to be totally honest, that I wished I hadn’t been saved. Because the thought of going through life as this, human that I don’t want to be, but then I felt too guilty to be ungrateful because all of these drs and family members had put so much time and effort into saving me. It was a hard hard pill to swallow.”

-Kate O’Brien

Resources: 

Guest Info – Kate O’Brien

Instagram: @emptykate

Facebook: @empty_kate

Host Info – Christina Heydanus

Instagram: @tinaheydanus

Twitter: @tinaheydanus

Show Info – Opening the Playbook

Instagram: @openingtheplaybook

Facebook: Opening the Playbook