A Warrior in the Face of Adversity: The Empowering Story of Caitlin Conner

But the truth of the matter is, you could.

You would.

And if you ever are faced with your own adversity, you will.

Because none of us realize what we're capable of until we find ourselves face to face with it.

For Caitlin Connor, she reminds me of a Phoenix.

Because out of the ashes, Caitlin rose.

But Caitlin didn't choose to survive.

No, that wasn't enough.

Caitlin Connor, she chose to thrive.

Welcome to The Lowdown with Kevin Lowe.

The podcast is shining light on the inspiring stories of ordinary people choosing to live out anything but ordinary lives.

All in the hope that you will be inspired to live out your best life.

Because this life is meant to be lived.

And this podcast is meant to inspire you to do it.

Well, hey there.

Welcome to the podcast.

I'm super excited that you're joining me today for what is episode 81, where I'm joined by a really phenomenal guest.

Her name is Caitlin Connor.

Caitlin, she's an athlete, model, brand ambassador, social media manager, mom.

And if that's not enough, founder of the nonprofit, Be More Adaptive.

Now, the only thing that that little bio doesn't tell you is that Caitlin, she's also a total badass.

Because what most people do with two legs, Caitlin does with one.

The other thing that that bio doesn't tell you is what I saw in Caitlin.

Because I may not be able to see Caitlin like most people do with my eyes.

Instead, I got to see Caitlin with my heart.

I've only met Caitlin once, which was when we sat down to record this podcast.

But that's all it took.

While talking with Caitlin, I was mesmerized by her spirit.

It was the brightness in Caitlin's voice that let me see her smile.

It was the boldness in her words that let me see her strength.

And it was the kindness and sense of humor that shines through that let me see her sparkling eyes.

God truly gave me a gift when He let me see this world both with sight and now through my heart.

I can only hope that you too will be impacted by this amazing woman with an incredible spirit, a truly remarkable story, and an overwhelming sense of joy.

Because Caitlin realized that this life, it's worth living.

And more so, she realized that she wasn't okay to just live in this life because Caitlin, she was meant to thrive.

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SPEAKER_02: I had an accident almost eight years ago, and before then, the Caitlin you're talking to is a very different person from back then.

I didn't really have much of a story, to be honest.

I mean, I grew up in a small town in Texas and I rode horses and went to school, and that was kind of it.

And then the day before my 24th birthday, all of that changed.

I was in a motorcycle accident.

A girl was texting while driving and did not see us on the motorcycle, us being my now ex-husband, who I'm still friends with.

And yeah, that was a very big kickstart for things for us.

My story is a little bit unique in the sense that I found out at the same time I was four weeks pregnant.

And I'll spare everyone the drama.

My little girl is now seven years old and so wonderful and just a big heart.

She has the biggest heart.

But I mean, so many things came from the accident that wouldn't have happened had I not allowed my mindset to be a positive one.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course, of course.

So would you mind this, the, the accident that you're talking about?

Can you take me back to that day and kind of explain to me what exactly happened and kind of, you know, especially the events right after the accident?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I had a normal start to the day.

I went to work.

I'd even finished work and gotten home safely.

My ex and I were about to go have dinner with his mom.

We found out she had stage four liver and colon cancer not too long before that.

And she finally wanted to go have a meal after having chemotherapy, which is a big deal for cancer patients.

And so we were about to go get in the car with them.

They actually were gonna drive us.

And it was a beautiful day in May, and kind of right before the cusp of Texas summer and all the heat that we have here.

And we just decided to hop on the motorcycle because I mean, I feel like it's almost 80% of accidents happen within a block from the home.

And this was one of those percentages.

And we decided to get on the motorcycle and wanted to go for a quick ride down the road.

And that quick ride turned into a very short ride, but a very long journey.

And so this girl was in the turn lane and she was texting and not paying attention.

And I mean, I remember the color of the car.

She was driving a white car, and my ex couldn't.

I mean, we had two different types of shock happen through this.

I was completely conscious the entire time.

And the ambulance was there within minutes, and so many pedestrians came out to help us.

It was amazing.

Weird things happened.

Like I had a guy that became a stalker from the accident, and so many traumatic things happened.

The girl tried to leave the scene of the accident to continue on to McDonald's to go meet her parents.

And hairstylists came out and made her sit down on the side of the road and wait for cops, which happened to have a police officer right in the parking lot as well.

So it's like everything was kind of oddly lined up in our favor, as odd as that might sound.

But I went in the ambulance and was taken to the ambulance station and then life flighted to the hospital.

My ex then took the ambulance because I took the only care flight.

We were in North Texas.

And so that was that was how we actually started our marriage.

This was less than two months after getting married.

And that was like right after our honeymoon.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Wow.

Honeymoon's over.

SPEAKER_02: Honeymoon was over.

SPEAKER_00: Yes.

SPEAKER_02: Life began.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

So so what injuries were sustained by both your husband and you?

SPEAKER_02: So he fractured his pelvis all the way down the right side.

I'm sorry, broke his pelvis.

He fractured his femur, broke his sacrum, and then the clutch of the motorcycle turned into his gut and punctured his gut.

Luckily, it missed other organs.

And then he had some pretty severe road rash as well.

And then myself, he went with the bike.

I flew off the back and went a different direction.

I had my face had been drugged down the road by the time I finished rolling, and my face was kind of not hanging off, but it was missing some skin quite a bit.

My shoulder was pretty bad, has a massive scar now, but luckily it sealed nicely.

The biggest injury was a partial amputation of my lower left leg.

When she hit us, the car pushed my ankle into the motorcycle and basically almost completely severed it.

It cut a major artery, and that was a that was a big deal.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

So when did you find out the severity of the injury to your leg?

SPEAKER_02: I actually sat up right after rolling.

I was still on the road.

I sat up before anyone got to me and looked at it and saw my ankle turned inward, and that that was enough for me.

Luckily, I have medical history.

I um in high school I did EMS.

And so I have an understanding of trauma and how to take care of myself.

So I knew the next thing I needed to do was sit very still and wait for the ambulance because there was nothing I could do and to calm myself down.

And that was the most important thing I did was to actually lower the amount of breaths I was taking, lower my heart rate.

And that honestly probably saved the amount of leg that I have today because I could have lost more blood and more leg because of it.

SPEAKER_00: Okay.

Okay.

That's it's almost like something totally different, but it's something that I've heard people who've been bitten by like rattlesnakes on their leg is they say the best thing they can do is to stay calm.

SPEAKER_02: Yes.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: So that's because if you freak out, the adrenaline pushes everything through your body faster.

Yeah.

Um, and just like with a snake bite, you'd be pushing venom through your veins even faster and kind of taking away those important minutes of getting care.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, definitely.

So, so once you were air flight to the hospital, you're you're at the hospital.

I mean, was it an immediate thing that they had to amputate or was it over time?

SPEAKER_02: Um, it was about two weeks.

So they did try to reconstruct my ankle.

I could feel my toes and I could actually wiggle them, even though parts of the bones in my feet were crushed.

And the doctors, I was at a county hospital, so there were a lot of residents, and the doctors wanted the students to be able to learn from me, which was cool at first until I was so extremely exhausted from being kept up all night doing blood work and going through surgeries and debrising the skin.

Eventually I told them, okay, no more of this, because they would come in multiple times a day and ask me to wiggle my foot and touch my foot, and it had broken bones, and it was extremely painful.

And there was only so much of that I could take.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

So I guess during this whole point, when they're doing all this, I mean, were they giving you hope that they would be able to save your foot?

SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't say it was really a hope thing.

I think they were trying to make sure they covered and covered themselves and checked all the boxes.

My parents were the ones that had the hardest time, you know, accepting that this was happening.

For me, because of my medical knowledge, I was like, okay, we're just wasting time here.

And everybody's situation is different.

Okay, so bear that in mind.

This was my situation, right?

And it got to a point after multiple surgeries.

By then the nurse had told me I was pregnant, so I was taking less anesthesia and medication and antibiotics and going through surgery, knowing that.

And it got to a point where I sat down with the the top plastic surgeon in Texas, and he said, Okay, very point blank.

This is exactly your options.

You know, you you would have to take a muscle from your back, a muscle from your thigh, some skin muscle from your stomach to cover.

I ended up losing a little bit of spongy bone out of my hip to try and fill a golf ball-sized hole in my ankle.

And then, you know, after doing that, I mean, my hip hurt so bad after that.

I almost think it was more painful to do that than to break my foot because every time I laughed, every time I went to the bathroom, cried, whatever it was, it hurt so bad.

So, I mean, it became a longer journey because of trying to save it.

So eventually the doctor told me, look, you know, if you get arthritis in your foot, you're going to have to fuse the ankle bones together in your foot.

And to me, I knew that wasn't going to be functioning.

I had shredded my Achilles tendon, which is extremely useful for running, jumping, everything.

And so just hearing that information, I said, okay, well, what are my chances of getting arthritis?

And the doctor looked at me and he's like, Well, you're going to get arthritis.

All the chance, 100%, you will get it.

And at that point, I said, No, I I choose to amputate.

And it was about two weeks.

It was seven surgeries total.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

So now how high up on your leg did they have to amputate?

SPEAKER_02: About six inches.

So I lost, I lost my foot and uh yeah, so my foot and ankle, and then about six inches of leg.

So about midway up the calf.

SPEAKER_00: Okay.

Okay.

But but here's the thing that I have to ask you about because while we're dealing with this, which I mean, you're so like awesome in the way you talk about it, because you're just kind of like, like, yeah, like very nonchalant.

But I mean, we're talking about a big deal.

But while you're dealing with that, you also found out you're pregnant.

Yeah.

And and that so you had no idea you were pregnant before this.

SPEAKER_02: I didn't know I was pregnant.

I was trying to get pregnant.

My my ex and I both wanted to have a kid.

We found out his mom had cancer, and I always wanted to be a mom, so that wasn't a hard choice for me.

We had just gotten married, so we were we were ready to start moving in that direction.

So we were trying to get pregnant.

And then I distinctly remember the first time we tried, and then I had a period and I was like, oh man, it didn't work.

So I was like, which is kind of like petty to think about, right?

People try for years to have kids.

And the first time I'm like, oh, what was me?

But um so then after that, it I guess we you know we kept trying, and then for whatever reason, intuition really kicked in in this situation where whatever that pretty much day one, I was like, I feel like I'm pregnant.

I don't know why I feel like I'm pregnant, but I feel like I'm pregnant.

And so I started taking uh, you know, urine pregnancy tests.

And I took one a week for the first three weeks, and each one was a negative.

And so eventually I just got in my head and I'm like, maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe I'm just, you know, I'm in my head too much thinking about it.

I'll wait till I have a for sure sign, some kind of weight gain, something, a missed period, whatever.

And then the fourth week, I was like, uh, I'm just wasting pregnancy tests at this point.

So I decided to stop taking tests.

And then that was the week we got on the motorcycle.

And to be fair, if I had stopped and taken a urine pregnancy test right before getting on the motorcycle, it would not have registered as a positive.

It took another week and a half in the hospital for my hormones to hit at a level that would register on a urine test.

So the fact that they got blood is the only reason that I found out I was pregnant that soon.

SPEAKER_00: Wow, wow, wow, wow.

How crazy life is, isn't it?

Like, like life.

Yeah, exactly.

It is exactly it, life is crazy beautiful.

And uh that's just that's remarkable.

So, so talk to me about after they amputated your leg, because I know nothing about this.

I mean, I've I've had a brain tumor removed, I've gone blind, I've you know, I I've talked to people on the podcast who've who've become paralyzed and quadriplegics, but but I know nothing about having a limb amputated.

So, so excuse my just like ignorance and and like kind of curiosity, but what happens after?

SPEAKER_02: I mean well, and I didn't know at the time either.

I mean, I grew up with a brother who had cerebral palsy and a and another brother who had epilepsy, and amputation was brand new to me.

At that point, I don't think I had ever met an amputee in person in my life.

I lived in a small town in the middle of Texas, and I still to this day remember seeing the very first amputee after surgery in person in an IKEA and going, there's another one, there's somebody else out there.

It was just like mind-blowing that I had never realized that, oh my gosh, this is a more normal thing than people realize.

And I think it's just growing up in a small town in the middle of Texas, it opened my eyes.

I mean, just because I grew up with brothers who had disabilities didn't mean it it hit me the same as having one myself.

And especially the more pregnant I got, the more complicated it got.

I had to learn how to walk four different times.

I had to try to figure out when I have the baby, how am I going to pick up my kid out of the crib with without a prosthetic?

When I first amputated, I wasn't thinking about prosthetics at all.

My initial thoughts were literally, I want to take care of the baby.

This is the best way to take care of my kid.

And I don't want to go through more surgeries and risk the child's life.

And that's just my personal story, right?

But I started figuring out that I had to, you know, take care of my limb and make sure I wasn't trying to rush healing.

I got really good at a wheelchair, and then I learned very quickly how inaccessible the world is, which I'm sure you know.

And just going places and then suddenly nothing is convenient anymore, but not realizing that you had the convenience before.

unknown: Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: Just like getting in and out of the shower and walking in the house and not realizing you're taking a step, and just simple things that you don't realize.

I eventually moved out to the living room because I couldn't sleep in the bedroom anymore.

My my ex was like a kicker in his sleep, and he would accidentally kick my leg and it hurt so bad.

It was still healing at the time.

He didn't mean to, of course, but it was enough for me to go, okay, I think I'm gonna sleep on the couch.

And then um, the more pregnant I got, the more I needed to sleep on the couch, anyways, because I couldn't get out of the bed.

So yeah, I mean, I had I had to figure out like in the middle of the night, you can't just get up and go to the bathroom anymore.

You have to I mean, you either have to find a wheelchair or crutches or a blocker or a prosthetic if you've got it.

And how do you get there?

And if you don't have any of that, sometimes I butt skew to the bathroom and oh my God, did I clean the bathroom floor today?

Like all these thought processes that go through your head.

And then imagine this is just your private home.

Then imagine all of that goes away if you're in a public place and the same things happen.

Like, what do you do?

Well, you figure it out, is the answer.

But there are a ton of things the world can do to make the world more accessible.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, no doubt.

But when I listen to you, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's listening to you and says, Oh my gosh.

I remember when I sprained my ankle and I and I was trying to use crutches, which I mean, I remember as a kid when somebody at school had crutches, they always looked so fun.

Everybody's fine.

So but they are horrible.

SPEAKER_02: They're awful, they're dangerous, they're uncomfortable.

I did the same thing as a kid.

I had a friend who'd sprain her ankle or something, and oh, give me your crutches.

This looks fun.

Like you messed around with it.

No, no, no, that bit me in the butt later in life.

Yeah, yeah.

So I mean, I I try not to I try not to use crutches as much as possible.

I mean, I I still have a backup wheelchair because I mean the reality is, is as much as I'm active as an amputee, there are still bad days.

And my goal is, okay, how long in life will I stay upright?

How long can I be active and fit?

That doesn't mean I expect it to be forever.

I understand that I'm going to take advantage of it as much as possible.

But that means when there's bad days, like if I have sores or something on my leg, okay, well, I'm gonna sit out for a week because I know if I push this, I could, I could really create some long-term issues.

And my goal is for longevity.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely, definitely.

It's a case of realizing that life and in our situations, you know, they're not forever.

And taking advantage of the moments that we have, yet while at the same time, you know, realizing what the potential can be.

That's interesting.

So at what point then did you get your first prosthetic?

SPEAKER_02: I let's see, the accident was May 30th, 2014.

By August 27th, I think, I finally had my first test socket.

A test socket is a temporary sort of prosthetic because you have to go through casting and molding to get the right shape of your limb.

But that's just the current way we do prosthetics that will change over time to be more anatomically.

Correct.

Okay.

But it it took me a few months to get to that point.

And even then, by the time I got my first prosthetic, it was still temporary, yes.

But then by November or October, I think it was after Thanksgiving, I fell out of my wheelchair and actually rebroke the end of my leg.

What?

I actually sat down in the kitchen.

My my ex came, he heard me yell, and he came to check on me because by then I was I was really pregnant.

I was in my third, the beginning of my third trimester.

And I sat in the kitchen and cried.

And I'm not a crier.

Okay.

When the accident happened and I got hit by the car, I did not cry.

The only thing I did was yell when a woman moved my leg for a second because it hurt, but I did not cry.

This time I sat down and I cried in the kitchen.

And that should have been an indicator that was something was wrong.

I went a whole week not knowing that my leg was broken.

It hurt enough to make me cry, but I have such a high pain threshold that I only cried for like two minutes and then I got over it.

And sometimes that's an issue.

You can you can go so long, so hard, and not realize you're hurting yourself more.

But I I went to my my doctor.

I called him up.

I had a normal appointment with him.

And I called him, I said, Oh yeah, I fell the other day.

He said, You did what?

I said, Yeah, I fell on my leg.

And he's like, When can you get here?

And I was like, Well, I'm not doing anything.

He's like, Can you come now?

I've never had a doctor appointment happen so quickly.

Okay.

I didn't realize it needed to be that bad for me to get into the doctor's office without waiting.

SPEAKER_00: But it Yes.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

So by then, you know, I I even cracked the test socket.

So there wasn't really a reason for it to crack.

Sometimes it just happens in prosthetics if it doesn't set right.

So I cracked it, and that's why I went back to my wheelchair and I I slipped from my wheelchair and I fell.

And it was either fall on my butt and hurt the baby or fall on my leg.

So I fell on my leg.

Yeah.

Um, and then by February, February 13th, she waited an extra two weeks to be born on a Friday the 13th.

SPEAKER_00: Awesome.

SPEAKER_02: And like right in the middle of the day.

There was no getting around that date.

I was like, okay, we're in for it.

It was a 32-hour labor.

And she came out eight and a half pounds.

She was a big girl and healthy as could be.

She cried her first cries.

And then I got to a point where I could get up and go to the bathroom.

And I'll I'll never forget standing up to go to the bathroom, one legged, didn't have my prosthetic on to get into a wheelchair.

And all of a sudden it dawned on me that my balance was back.

My spine changed so much during pregnancy.

I kept accounting for it as my leg and thinking it was so hard to walk because of that.

I had to learn how to walk without the balance that I would have normally had and didn't realize it.

And then I got up and I was like, ah, I've balanced.

This is wonderful.

And then I got back in the bed.

But um and then it basically took me a full two years before I got a permanent prosthetic.

And then it was game on because there was so much weight gain from gaining pregnancy weight and then losing it, and then breastfeeding, that made me lose weight too.

And then eventually I plateaued and I started getting the fitness, and then everything kept changing.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

Well, I I I kind of help but think when when you tell us that that story of getting up for the first time and being like, whoo, this is easy.

I'm like, Caitlin is back, baby.

SPEAKER_02: You know?

At that point, it wasn't Caitlin is back, it was, ooh, this is a new adventure.

Because Caitlin before did not try all the new things that she did after losing her leg.

SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about that because you've not just played it safe, played it low-key.

No, no, no, no, no.

So, what changed from Caitlin, who, you know, we heard at the beginning was just basically going through life, just like so many of us fall in the trap of just working and and you know, just going home, going back to work, just the same old thing.

To the Caitlin who I'm sitting here talking to today.

What happened?

SPEAKER_02: I mean, near death, near death happened.

I I never actually felt like I was going to die in the accident.

I don't know why.

You know, some people say, Oh my God, I thought I was gonna die.

I for some reason didn't have that feeling.

I was extremely calm.

Maybe that's why I didn't have that feeling.

I I shoved my emotions away for a little bit to focus.

But yeah, I mean, before I just did work and paid bills and I really didn't have much to me.

I bought too many clothes, I ate too much food.

It's like normal people, right?

I just you just live your life the way you're supposed to.

And and then after, you know, losing my leg, it wasn't until my prosthetic company came into my life.

They um Baker Orthotics and Prosthetics was there like day one or two in the hospital when they knew I would be amputating, or and they came in to teach me what it was about, and it shined a little light in my life because I didn't know what was gonna happen.

And it wasn't until they said that, you know, there were nonprofits out there for running prosthetics that things started changing for me because I wasn't even thinking about prosthetics in the beginning, not even thinking it at all.

And then they asked me about running, and I certainly wasn't thinking about running for sport.

It was more or less just like self-defense.

But once I realized I could run missing a leg, and I hadn't been really running before with two legs, I started realizing that I was really missing out on life.

There were so many things I didn't try just because I thought I would be bad at it or thought that I would have to, oh my goodness, would I actually have to work at something?

And so, right?

Then then I just started trying everything.

I changed my mindset.

I realized that I had missed out on so much of life because I wasn't allowing myself to live.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

I love it.

I love it.

So, so talk to me, but before we get into the the sports and stuff that you started doing with running, and and I know you've got into boxing and and and skating and all that.

Can you talk to me a little bit about how this works with prosthetics?

Because I'm assuming that there must be different prosthetics dependent upon what you're wanting to do.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

So I mean, right now, just the way prosthetics are, you do kind of need separate legs for separate activities.

So I mean, I have a full running blade for like sprinting and long distance running because my everyday leg isn't meant for long distance or high impact for that long of a duration, right?

I even have a cycling leg, which is actually my first leg, and it's stiffer.

It's cycling doesn't have as much impact.

So the leg doesn't need to be as ready for impact as other legs might.

I have a high heel leg that I use for when I do modeling or need to wear high heels or be on the runway.

And then I also use that same leg for for figure skating because a figure skate has a little lift in the boot.

And the ability to change the the height of the hill, which some legs don't offer.

So some of it is technology isn't there yet.

Some of it is the funding for these prosthesis, are not there yet for us to be able to afford these kinds of legs.

There are some legs out there that do a little bit of everything, but the perfect leg doesn't really exist yet because honestly, the perfect leg is your anatomical leg.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

I mean, and that is the case because I know that with with everything, I mean, we our bodies are pretty amazing, how they're made naturally.

And and we as humans, through science and stuff, we try and replicate it all we can, but we can only do as as good as we can.

SPEAKER_02: And um Yeah, I I do think we've come a very long way with not only prosthesis, but you know, replicating parts of the human body just in the last five years.

Prosthetics have changed from day one of my accident to what I've done now.

I mean, I work with MIT and Dr.

Huher for uh a couple of projects over there, and it's an honor to get to see the progression of technology and to be a part of these projects.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.

Well, I I even say it in my situation since going blind, which was which was uh a little over 18 years ago, the evolution of technology is absolutely incredible.

I mean, I went from having different devices that I got through, like blind services and such, with this big device.

I mean, it was the size of like a laptop to like read a dollar bill.

Now, now I do, you know, everything from my iPhone, you know, is just the advances in technology.

Sometimes we all get caught up on the cool new features because they, you know, they're fun or whatever, but it also is a another meaning to advances in technology is advancements in accessibility and making life.

Yeah, definitely, definitely.

SPEAKER_02: Think about the first prosthetic.

It was made of wood.

Okay.

Yeah.

That's about like what a wooden eyeball.

SPEAKER_00: Yep, exactly.

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_02: If I have to compare.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely, definitely.

Yeah.

I mean, it it's it's crazy.

It's so crazy.

So tell me some of these the supports.

Like uh one thing that I'm very interested in is boxing, that you got into boxing because this is what I find interesting.

Is I'm not a boxer, but I I've watched the movies.

And so I know boxing is all about your feet.

They talk about it being more your feet.

Keep them moving, keep them moving.

So is that tough?

Uh, you would think me, I would think that would be tough with a prosthetic, but maybe I mean, I at first I had to figure out which prosthetic to wear.

SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I started out with a general walking foot and then quickly realized I probably would do better on a running blade because the running blade, if you'll imagine, is more like being on your tiptoes.

Okay.

It gives you that that energy return, it gives you the ability to project forward.

And in boxing, you really need to be able to be on that ball of your foot, which is kind of what a running prosthetic replicates.

And so I had to figure that one out.

That took a little bit.

And then I mean, I'm fortunate that I have a long reach.

So that works into my advantage for boxing.

And I I don't know, I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

Well, that that's so awesome.

So I guess I'm I'm curious is the fact of I mean, it's so incredible that that you launched yourself into this, into this new life, this new world with with open arms.

Was there any people, anything that was like an inspiration for you?

Thing, any person or anything that was a big like role model, big inspiration for you, or who you leaned on on the tough times to keep going and keep, you know, not giving up on life?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, for me, the the focus initially was always my daughter, because I wanted to be a role model for her.

I I, as soon as I realized I'd been missing out on life, I wanted her to learn how not to miss out on her own life.

And some of being a role model is by going out and doing.

So I needed to go out and do so that she could see what was possible.

I mean, if mom can walk around with one leg and do all these things, even when she doesn't always believe in herself, then what can I do with what I've been given?

And so that's that's kind of always been my driving motion.

But, you know, I had a lot of support from my ex in the beginning too.

We had a hard time because both of our families were really falling apart.

His mom got cancer and they were helping her, and then my mom got cancer, and then just all kinds of things started happening.

So we both needed help.

We both needed the ability to express ourselves and we didn't really know how.

And so many factors played into our divorce.

But the main reason we could still be friends is because we put our daughter first and we we co-parent, and she's our reason for being both of us.

She was our coping mechanism, which is probably not healthy, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00: But um judgment, no judgment.

Yeah, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, a lot of it was really around our daughter, and then my boyfriend now has been a massive support.

I mean, I've been with him for four years, so he's he's already been there half the time of me being an amputee, and he hands down, pushes me to work harder and to be better, and he's just always my support system.

So, I mean, I've got my dad, my brother, my best friends, like they've always kind of been there cheering me on.

And it's it's kind of sad, I'll admit, because I have the ability to talk to strangers any day of the week.

But when somebody needs me, for whatever reason, I mentally shut down and I like go into my own like hideaway in my head.

So, I mean, I think some of my best friends and family have started to understand that if they really need me, they have to message me over and over again.

Because I will shut down, especially my day job is digital marketing.

So I run a lot of different brands and I'm the voice for a lot of different brands.

So sometimes I lose my own voice in that.

And I I think they finally started to understand that Caitlin still loves me, that she just needs some space and it has nothing to do with me, it's all her.

So I have an I have an incredible support system.

And and some of that I do have to thank from the internet, from being able to go out into the world.

I have to give Facebook credit because Facebook was the reason I found so many other amputees in the world.

It was right at a time when people started utilizing Facebook to create groups that were helpful for people.

And no, this is not a paid advertisement, but just clear that up.

I started networking and finding other amputees in the world and and meeting other amputees.

I found other people with disabilities and I started learning about nonprofits that have grants and resources for the community.

And really, it just opened my mind and my heart right when I needed it to happen the most.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

And I I love so much that you speak about the Facebook groups because I can tell you for myself, when when I hear people hating on Facebook, hating on social media, I always, I always go, you know what?

That's cool.

But use it for what brings you joy.

And for myself, it's it's joy and it's it's just overwhelming help for me is those Facebook groups of people who are just like me.

Because, you know, me with with with being blind and in my other medical issues that are a result of the brain tumor I have, it's easy to feel like you're the only person dealing with it because nobody in your immediate circle has these problems.

Yet you get part of these Facebook groups and you realize you're part of a community of people all over the world who are just like you.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

And it it just makes it more real that disability affects everybody.

And the general public kind of, and I was part of that general public in the beginning, have you?

And they forget, they're like, oh, oh, oh, this disabled parking spot really isn't a big deal.

I went to a restaurant the other day that had a cord of wood parked where the handicapped spot was.

And I was like, Oh, really?

We can't find another corner in this parking lot for that, but okay.

So I mean, I people forget until it's relevant to them.

And then it's funny, I like to make it you we talked about the sprained ankle, right?

So I I do have people come up and they'll go, Oh, I sprained my ankle once.

It was much like what you're going through.

And it's of course not, but then I always like to spin that around on people that aren't paying attention that disability affects everybody.

And I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna trip you over that sidewalk right there, and you're gonna sprain your ankle, and I bet you need assistance.

SPEAKER_00: Yep.

SPEAKER_02: Like suddenly you need a resource.

I won't actually go trip people, don't worry.

But I think about it sometimes.

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: We all we we all think about things.

SPEAKER_02: We all think it's okay.

It's natural to think about it, it's not natural to commit to it.

But um, yeah, I like to remind people that at any one time in their life, they can and will obtain a disability.

It's not a matter of if it's a matter of when they will get a disability.

Now, if they're fortunate for it to be till old age, okay, well, they're fortunate.

But the thing is, everybody has crap in their life, right?

Whatever it may be.

You can, I'm changing out words in case somebody is listening that doesn't like cuss words.

Everybody has things happen in life that they can't control.

And I my favorite thing is when somebody goes, Oh, life is not fair.

It's so unfair.

I completely disagree.

Look at me, I've I'm missing a leg, I had to do it pregnant.

There are a lot of things that happen, right?

My mom died, my brother died, my mother-in-law died, my stepdad died.

All the things, right, happened.

But here's the thing they happen all at once.

And guess what?

I wouldn't change that because I think everybody in life has actually very fair access to both good and bad.

I think life is completely fair.

I think you just don't get to choose when that good and bad happens.

And I think it's because if you don't have either of the two happen in an equal amount, then you don't respect the other.

If nothing bad ever happened, you would never have any respect for anything good.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly.

Exactly.

I love it and I can't agree anymore.

I I truly do.

And then, you know, I'm I'm a big advocate for a thing in my life where I've I've learned and I say that that in my opinion, everything in this life, it happens for a reason and a good reason.

Even if at the moment we can't see any good.

But when you look down the road after you've traveled a ways, you're gonna see how it's impacted your life.

And as you said, whether it was negative, positive, it's made you who you are, you know?

And and and that's what makes us people and makes us all unique is the fact of the road we've traveled down.

And I mean, let's face it, it'd be kind of boring if everybody just traveled down a smooth interstate versus having to go off-roading sometimes, you know?

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02: I I like to use the example of the have you ever read the book or or heard the movie The Giver?

SPEAKER_00: I have heard about this, yes.

SPEAKER_02: Okay, you need to go watch, listen, The Giver.

Okay, so The Giver is a story about kind of this utopitous world where everything is the exactly the same.

It's very black and white.

There's literally no color in the beginning of this book, right?

And you think in the back of your mind, you think, oh, well, this would fit fix things.

I don't have to worry about what clothes to choose, or there wouldn't be racism because we wouldn't know a difference between anyone's color or whatever kind of, you know, you figure it out, right?

So there would be pros from this type of world, right?

Where everything is so sterile and the same, and everybody's designated a job and they don't ever have to think about a different type of job, and everybody gets housing and food and whatnot, right?

But the thing is, by the end of the story, you have the giver who is the only person in this community that is given the knowledge of the past, memories.

SPEAKER_00: Okay.

SPEAKER_02: And this one person gets to hold all of that on their shoulders.

The reason the way they they take all of memories of the past away from everyone because it basically makes it emotionless.

There's no anger, there's no sadness, but there's also really not any like love or any of the good emotions, right?

And what you find by the end of it is people want out of that.

They want to be unique, they want to have emotions, they want to see the color red of an apple.

Like it's it's you want to hear the birds tweet in your ear.

You want to feel the scratchiness of grass.

If all of those emotions and tangible feelings were taken away, then the world would just be a gray box of blah.

Like exactly so, I mean, I like to think about that when I like to remind myself when I think, oh, this world would be better without X, Y, and Z.

I like to say mosquitoes.

I see no purpose in keeping mosquitoes, but I'm sure there is some part of the circle of life that mosquito contributes to, right?

So somewhere in there, there's a purpose for everything and everyone.

And even the sad things have a purpose, like mosquitoes.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

Mosquitoes, yes, exactly.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: It's probably only population control.

I swear it.

That's the only purpose.

Some, but at the same time, okay.

See, I've already started finding my argument.

See, frogs problem at mosquitoes, yeah, all the things.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

All the things, yeah.

It's it's a didn't didn't didn't Lion King teach us that with life.

SPEAKER_02: Something like that.

SPEAKER_00: That's exactly.

Sing it, girl.

I love it.

So, so I'm curious.

Now, today, we we've traveled down this road.

We've overcome so so what what does life look for you today?

What what is your your everyday life?

What are you up to?

Where can people learn more about you, find you, follow you, kind of all the things.

SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can almost always find me on social media, but remember that thing, if I don't message my family, then you guys should probably have to message me multiple times too.

But because I am running multiple brands at the same time.

So my day job looks like digital marketing, where I'm I'm running social media brands and websites and all kinds of things.

I'm creating content and photography, videography, editing, that kind of stuff, right?

I do a little bit of everything.

But then I also have things like modeling on the side, modeling and acting, advocating in that realm because I think representation really matters.

And media.

And I grew up in a video store.

So this is like home to my heart to be able to be in this industry in this way.

And I can spot a plot hole in a horror movie within seconds.

So it's probably useful if I'm involved, anyways.

But then other than that, I mean, I still have my nonprofit, be more adaptive.

Because of COVID, we we had to slow things down a bit and kind of take control of what we were doing.

The nonprofits still exist.

And honestly, it exists because resources exist as well.

The whole point of Be More Adaptive is to take all the adaptive resources in the world and put it in one easy-to-access place and have a database that people can actually access the resources they need.

That takes time to build.

It takes people to build it, and I'm still looking for the right team to help me build it.

So that has been slower, but it's still going.

Other than that, I mean, I still I'll be climbing with the Range of Motion project this year in Ecuador.

I say that this is my third year saying this because we haven't been able to climb yet.

So 2020, I made the team and then COVID.

So that didn't really happen.

We we did a virtual climb and kind of climbed in our respective parts of the world virtually together.

And then last year I was supposed to be on the team.

They they got to climb, they got to do two teams, but I didn't get to climb because I had a surgery that needed to take precedence.

So this year is my third year's charm of climbing with Ecuador and and the romp team.

So we will get there.

So I'm about to start rock climbing more, and I've been working on speed skating because ice sports aren't really a thing for for paraathletes.

You've got sled hockey, which is the only thing on ice, like specify I well, I guess we have that's not true.

We have we have sled hockey, wheelchair, curling, and I think we have bobsled, but we have nothing upright on the ice.

Um everything is down low below.

So my goal is to to help start up para speed skating.

And okay, you can give me your input on this, but I think it would be so cool to have beep speed skating for blind athletes.

SPEAKER_00: Woo, yeah.

Right?

SPEAKER_02: Okay, it's gotta be less dangerous than beep baseball.

There's nothing flying at your head.

SPEAKER_00: Right?

Exactly, exactly.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: Well, sure, you have blades attached to your legs, but just kick them away from your face.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly.

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02: It could be like in track cycling for blind athletes when they let one tandem go at a time.

You just let one speed skater go at a time.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like it.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I like it.

I think I ought to something.

I just need blind athletes to get on board with me here.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly, exactly.

If I could dare stand up on a pair of ice skates just to stand there, I might would say, okay, but uh I don't think I'll do it.

SPEAKER_02: You just start, yeah, everybody starts with a little walker.

You know what I mean?

You have a walker on the ice, like kids push on them.

You just start with that.

SPEAKER_00: You know what though?

Like as a kid, as a kid, I rollerbladed all the time.

Did all the ramps, the jumps, sliding?

SPEAKER_02: See, so you already have you already have the pieces for the puzzle.

Yeah, because I didn't do that.

SPEAKER_00: I but but then I would go to the ice skating ring and I'd be like a just a total idiot.

It's okay.

SPEAKER_02: So did you use practice rollerblades or like the four-wheel skates?

SPEAKER_00: No, rollerblades.

SPEAKER_02: So if you use rollerblades, it's a similar concept.

SPEAKER_00: I I was a cool kid.

I was I wasn't using roller skates.

Yeah, no, I'm sure, but I'm sure probably if I had given it more of a try.

But I mean, here in Florida, I mean, we got a chance to ice skate every once in a while when they froze the indoor, you know, ice skating rink, and and that wasn't very often.

SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I mean, I just go to hockey rinks here in Texas.

Eventually I will have to fly to a real speed skating rink because we just don't have it here.

SPEAKER_00: Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_02: Well we have we have a trip planned to Utah in the summer to do just that.

SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, that's awesome.

So now when this year is the Ecuador trip?

SPEAKER_02: Ecuador will be in the fall.

SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02: I usually climb in the fall.

So I've I've got to start my rock climbing.

I'd see in the last couple years because of COVID, I I've really kind of tucked my head in sports and and focused on work just to stay afloat like everybody else in the world.

SPEAKER_03: Yep.

SPEAKER_02: And and so I've got I've got to catch up physically.

I've got to start working out more and and really kicking it back in gear.

SPEAKER_00: So yeah, well, awesome.

Well, well, listen, it's been such a joy to talk to you that I hope that we're all gonna be crossing our fingers, crossing our toes that that this trip happens.

And after it does, I would love to have you back on to tell us about that experience.

SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wonderful, wonderful.

Well, well, Caitlin, such a pleasure to have you on the podcast.

I'm I'm so excited that I got a chance to meet you.

I'm so excited that you responded to my message, unlike the norm.

And so I feel very honored.

So you should, you should.

SPEAKER_02: You you stood out and waited for me to actually respond.

SPEAKER_00: Well, awesome, awesome.

Well, well, Caitlin, you know, once again, most uh sincere way possible.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to be on the podcast.

I'm I'm glad, literally speaking, I'm glad we were able to catch up to you because you're you're flying right along in life and you're kind of leaving the rest of us in the dust.

SPEAKER_02: Oh, I don't know about that.

I'm about to start throwing out the ropes to pull you guys in with me.

So if you're ready, pull out those those rollerblades, buddy.

We're gonna get you on ice next.

SPEAKER_00: Sounds good.

Sounds good.

Well, well, listen, Caitlin, thank you.

And for you listening, you know, I want to thank you again for for being part of another just awesome episode here on the podcast.

We we get to to meet some just incredible people, and and Caitlyn is definitely no exception.

She has me feeling all kind of good vibes, excited, and in and just anxious to kind of step outside of my own comfort zone.

I think I think we all get comfortable in life and and getting uncomfortable, stepping outside of the lines.

It's something that we all need to embrace a little bit more.

So, with that said, turn off the podcast, get outside, and do something uncomfortable, exactly.

SPEAKER_02: For me to put on pants in the morning, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Love it.

And that's the lowdown with Kevin Lowe.

I hope today's episode inspired you, motivated you, and excited you to get out and enjoy life, no matter what obstacles may be standing in the way.