TAMPA, Fla. — Elizabeth Mathews, 15, has been through more in her life than most teenagers.
Paralyzed at five years old, she started swimming as part of her physical therapy, and it quickly became her passion.
She’s proving that anyone can overcome anything that life throws at them.
“I was hit by a drunk driver going the wrong way on the highway,” Mathews said.
She can’t remember much from that horrible night in June of 2016.
“I don’t think it really set in until I woke up, and I couldn’t feel anything.”
She was left paralyzed from the chest down.
“Okay, this doesn’t feel right,” she said. “I think it hit when I got into a wheelchair for the first time. This is the new normal, apparently.”
Now a freshman at Gibbs High School, Mathews has found her passion — swimming.
“It kind of makes me feel like I’m a normal kid in the water,” she said. “It makes my body feel like it doesn’t have the weight to it.”
She’s competing alongside other kids her age in the water, and that comes with some obvious challenges.
“It’s definitely tough because I’m trying to catch up when they’re going twice as fast as I am,” Mathews said. “They can use their legs, I have to use my arms. I have to work ten times harder, it’s just what I feel like, work harder.”
That hard work is proven with the seconds she’s shaved off in the 50-meter freestyle.
“She’s been pretty consistent,” Gibbs swim coach Andrew Campbell said. “She dropped seven seconds in one race a couple of weeks ago, which is a significant time drop.”
For Campbell, Mathews is an inspiration.
“Perseverance,” he said. “She was dealt a really bad hand at a really young age and spent most of her life in a wheelchair. Now here she is, competing against able-bodied swimmers and going to regionals and hopefully going to states. It’s a big deal.”
The wheelchair may be part of her story.
“It made me realize to be grateful for what you have,” Mathews said. “You don’t know how long you will have it for.”
But she’s just a regular teenager living life on her own terms.
“As long as you like doing something, say hey, this is something I like doing, and I’m going to keep trying to do it to my best new normal.”
Share Your Story with Kyle Burger
For Tampa Bay 28 Sports Anchor Kyle Burger, pride in our local teams goes beyond college and the pros. Sports connect us as communities and families. You can connect with Kyle to share your passion for your local athletes below.
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