HOLLAND, Mich. — In 2019, 13 ON YOUR SIDE introduced you to Lauren Sall (then Ziegler). The conversation came seven months after Sall had a stroke — what she described as the worst moment of her life.
"I couldn't walk, couldn't eat solid food, couldn't move," Sall said. "I could have let it ruin me."
She didn't.
Doctors called Sall a one-in-a-million story, contributing her recovery to her activeness pre-stroke. Nealy five years after recovering from the stroke, Sall was invited to her first Crossfit Adaptive Games.
"It's always been a dream," Sall said. "I wrote it on the board, 2024 goals, and it's going to the CrossFit Games, which might seem lengthy to some people, but why not?"
Before the invite, Sall graduated from Grand Valley State University, ran a half marathon, got married and had kids — all goals she previously had.
Getting an invite to the CrossFit Adaptive Games was all mental for Sall.
"It didn't make sense how I recovered. There was such a grim outlook, so I wanted to kind of jump past that and I still use it today," Sall said. "[In] my mind, I can get a lot farther than I think I can. "
We played Lauren a snippet of the story we did on her in 2019, where she said she wasn't going to just recover, but instead get better than she was before.
"I'm just so blessed, praise God that I was able to do what I can do," Sall said. "I really shouldn't be able to be."
It's a sentiment similar to what her doctors told 13 ON YOUR SIDE back in 2019.
“I hate to use too much hyperbole but when we talk about one in a million, she fits the bill,” Dr. Wheaton said in our 2019 interview with him.
“She was doing a lot more with her legs and balance quicker than expected,” said Stephanie DeKryger, an occupational therapist at Mary Free Bed.
Sall attacks CrossFit more than she ever has, but still has coordination issues that can lead to wobbly workouts when lifting. She also has continued spasticity issues.
"I don't have any function in my thumb right here anymore," Sall said. "I'm trying to move it and it doesn't move."
Sall's invite to the CrossFit Adaptive Games is far from a full circle moment, but rather a continuation of a story of triumph and perseverance.
"I want people to remember that when things get hard, that it's just an opportunity to fight harder," Sall said. "Get back up and keep going."
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