Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/980339
t m c » p u l s e | m a y 2 0 1 8 6 • • • Ellis is now up to 127 pounds, a feat she has managed by swimming or cycling daily. In January, she completed the Chevron Houston Marathon on her handcycle—a three-wheeled cycle propelled by her arms—and she is gunning to run the 5K next year. But it won't be easy. Ellis still walks primarily with forearm crutches, and the paralysis throughout her right side is a daily frustration. She has no health insurance at the moment because her long-term disability and COBRA coverage have expired, so she is waiting for Medicaid to kick in. Last she heard, it would be August until she could afford to resume therapy. She is a member of Team Catapult, a local nonprofit that supports individ- uals with disabilities who want to compete in endurance sports. The nonprofit has offered to fund a prosthetic running blade, but Melton and her team are concerned that Ellis' body may not be ready. "It's a balancing act for me because I have to make sure she's safe and in the right setting, but I also want to make sure she has the equipment that's going to allow her to do what she wants to do," Melton said. Of course, Ellis isn't taking "no" for an answer. She recently recorded a short video of herself running with a prosthetic blade—a quick, unsteady jog, her forearm crutches tossed just out of the frame. "Now I've got evidence," Ellis said. "They say I'm not ready and to focus on how far I've come, but in my mind, I can go further." "But," she added, "it is what it is." It's a phrase Ellis often repeats, but don't mistake it for resignation. "My recovery is going well—in some areas, better than expected, while in others, not fast enough," she said. "But when someone is told they'll never walk again, and within a couple of years they're learning to walk unassisted and attempting to jog, it's amazing. I could easily give up and sit in my wheel- chair. I have a long way to go, but I do not intend to stop trying." Ellis' doctors have grown accustomed to her indefatigable resolve. "I don't know that I've ever seen somebody so motivated as she is to accomplish what she wants to accomplish," Melton said. "And I have no doubt she's going to get there." • • • The drunk driver who hit Ellis eventually pleaded guilty. In a move that shocked even those closest to her, Ellis has forgiven him. "It is what it is," she said. She steadied herself and stood up, her eyes fixed on the bike stationed in the living room. "I needed to move on. I don't have any resentment; it was an accident. He drank and he drove. We've all been young. He was 25 years old. A lot of people CYCLING ACCIDENTS are mad, but what are you going to do? Sit here and harp?"' That's not her style. "The laws aren't that strict for running somebody over," Ellis added. "If I would have died, it would have been a different story." She paused. "I did die four times, actually. I just survived." Ellis walked to the back door of her home and gazed onto the street. She longed to be out there, her body running in a brand new way, racing forward. M ay is National Bike Month— an opportunity to high- light the benefits of bicycling and reinforce best practices for safety. According to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, bicycle-car deaths rose 12.2 percent in 2015. More than 800 bicyclists died that year from motor vehicle traffic crashes, and an additional 45,000 were injured. Alcohol involvement was reported in 37 percent of the fatalities. In Texas, 65 pedalcyclist fatalities occured in 2016, the year of Ellis' accident. This was a 25 percent increase from 2015, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.