American Paralympic Swimmer Takes Silver, Sets New Record 16 Months After Losing Leg To Shark

Former American collegiate swimmer Ali Truwit proves never giving up pays off after she ended up recently taking home the silver twice in the Paralympics, 16 months after she lost her leg in a shark attack.

The 24-year-old swimmer competed in Paris and took home the silver in the women’s 100m backstroke S10 on September 6 and the women’s S10 400-meter freestyle, setting a new American record in the latter with a time of 4:31.39, CNN reported.

“It’s a real full circle moment and speaks to the support I have all around me,” Truwit told members of the press after her race. “When you are truly faced with death and you understand what a second chance at life means, you want to make the most of it.”

“Every day there is something new for me that I learn that kind of evokes a new memory from the attack,” she added. “Because I was conscious the whole time. Truthfully, at the start I thought it was going to be something where I overcame the fear and that was it.”

“I have learned from this journey that that is not what this journey looks like,” Truwit continued. “That there will be days it’s great and there will be days I have to fight to get that love back. But I would say I am at 90:10 right now of really feeling comfortable and happy in the water and I am thankful to be there.”

Ali Truwit is simply incredible 🌟#ParisParalympics pic.twitter.com/m970lHnAer

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) September 5, 2024

In May 2023, Truwit was on vacation swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Turks and Caicos when she was attacked by the shark. She managed to fight off the animal and then swim some 70 meters to a boat before she was airlifted to the hospital, CNN noted.

“I think it was survival instinct. It was a terrible day, it’s a terrible memory. It was shocking, terrifying, but I am alive, I am here and I am going to make the most of it,” Truwit said.

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Doctors were able to save her life, but the swimmer ended up losing her foot and part of her leg in the attack. She underwent three surgeries and six months later, she got back in the water and now is a two-time silver medalist.

Truwit couldn’t have gotten where she is today without that persistence, but credits those closest to her, her friends and family, with helping her make it.

“Sophie, who was in the water with me and tied the tourniquet on my leg and saved my life, is in the stands, as well as Hannah, who was the one who was in medical school rotation at the trauma hospital I was airlifted to,” Truwit said after the race. “I am so lucky for them and all the others in the stands.”

“I think my parents have done an incredible job raising me and my three brothers to be adaptable, to try and look for the positives in life and appreciate all we have been given,” she added. “So, when I was faced with a life-changing trauma, I worked to see the positive and focus on gratitude and let that carry me.”

Related: U.S. Wraps Up Olympic Swimming With Another Gold Medal And A New World Record

NYPD Commissioner Expected To Resign Over Federal Criminal Probe: Report

New York Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban is reportedly expected to resign in the coming days after federal law enforcement agents searched him last week as part of an alleged corruption investigation.

Politico reported that four people familiar with the matter say that he is expected to resign over the criminal probe that is being conducted by the Southern District of New York, which focuses on government corruption cases and the IRS.

The FBI executed search warrants at the home of Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks and a home shared by First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Schools Chancellor David Banks. Investigators seized phones belonging to Caban and Timothy Pearson, a senior adviser to the mayor. A consultant, Terence Banks, brother of Philip Banks and David Banks, was also searched.

The New York Times reported at the start of the week that NYC Democrat Mayor Eric Adams, who is under a federal criminal corruption investigation over matters related to the Turkish government, was seeking Caban’s resignation as there are now “several federal investigations” into his administration.

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The Feds raided the home of Adam’s director of Asian Affairs, Winnie Greco, earlier this year as part of a criminal probe run by the Eastern District of New York, the Times said. His former buildings commissioner, Eric Ulrich, faces bribery charges and several donors to Adams’ campaign have been charged in a straw-donor scheme.

The investigation, at least in part, centers around a nightclub security business that is owned by Caban’s twin brother, James Caban. The probe is reportedly focusing on other police officials as well.

“I have the utmost confidence in the New York City Police Department,” Adams said this week when asked about Caban. “I don’t think anything in life is guaranteed. I would say this, when I chose Eddie, I chose him for his experience and what he brought after 30-something years of service.”