“When I finish this marathon, whether I win or not, I want to be able to say I’ve put the accident behind me,” Alison, 29, said Wednesday night after a training run and before Tim grilled burgers for dinner at their Hyde Park bungalow.
She was the top women’s finisher in the 2005 Pig, her first marathon, at 3:03.40. Her goal this year is to finish in under 3 hours.
“Of course, it would be great to win,” she said. “I’m a competitive girl.”
Her competitive spirit, paired with the power of her doctor-husband’s devotion, are what drove her story straight into the hearts of others. CNN and NBC’s Today Show sent crews to town last year. A California minister preached a sermon that the couple’s faith and love shines as an example to all couples.
Tim sees a change in the woman he married May 14, 2010.
“She’s more laid back, she’s not quite as hard on herself,” he said. “It’s resulted in her performing better at work and athletically.”
Before her accident, Alison would have been uncomfortable with attention. Now she accepts it, she said, “as part of God’s plan.’’
“I am thankful for everything. I am thankful I get to go to work every day. I am thankful for all the awesome people who helped me. I am thankful God has given me the opportunity to live again. I feel like I’m meant to be here. I just pray God guides me to succeed in how he wants me to.
“And I’m glad we told our story and that people are inspired.”
HUSBAND-DOCTOR STAYS AT HER SIDE
Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010, was a warm and clear day, Alison’s first day off after 13 straight. She planned a long bike ride.Later that afternoon, at an intersection in Anderson Township, a driver failed to yield.
Alison, wearing a helmet, smashed into the side of the car. Her chin slammed into the side mirror, breaking several teeth and her jaw, before she flew over the car’s roof. She broke her neck in five places and fractured her clavicle and sternum. She landed on her back on the pavement. Unconscious, she lay choking on her blood.
At University Hospital, an angiogram – a mapping of the brain’s blood vessels – revealed an aneurysm in the front left region, the part that controls speech. Her head injuries also threatened movement on the right side of her body.
She would undergo three operations on the left-side aneurysm, an abnormal bulge in an artery that, if ruptured, can lead to brain damage, stroke or death. As many as 1 in 15 people in the United States are believed to develop brain aneurysms in their lifetimes.
A team of doctors and nurses at University cared for Alison. And her recovery is a source of happiness, especially because of her successful return to her career as a physician.
“Alison continues to impress and amaze all of us,” said Andrew Ringer, a University Hospital neurosurgeon. “The pace and extent of her recovery is incredible, particularly given the severity of her injuries.
“To rebound from her injuries to the point of competing on this high athletic level is inspiring. But, perhaps more inspiring to us, is her ability to return to the profession so dear to us as a physician.”
Through an arduous two months, Tim rarely left his wife’s side. He read to her. He prayed with her. He supervised physical therapy. He fasted with her when scheduled surgery or post-op care prevented her from eating. When she could eat again, Tim fetched her favorites: French toast from First Watch, a Skyline 3-Way, Graeter’s black raspberry chip ice cream.“We’re a team,” was his mantra.
The angiogram revealed another aneurysm, this one on the right side of her brain, a potentially fatal problem present since childhood that might have otherwise gone undetected. She underwent five hours of surgery March 1, 2011, at University Hospital to prevent bleeding into the brain.
Two months later, the couple ran the Pig’s 5K race together and crossed hand in hand. Alison, who finished third, knew at that time she would run the 2012 full marathon.
As they did in 2005 and 2009, Alison’s parents, Kathy and Terry Bedingfield, of Colerain Township, will see her at five spots on the course.
Tim, an avid cyclist who got his wife into the sport, will be on his bike and will try to keep his wife in view as much as possible.
LIVING THE REST OF THEIR LIVES
Of course, Tim can’t watch over Alison all of the time. When she runs at 5 each morning, Alison wears a bright yellow jacket, blinking red light and headlamp.“She looks like a high-lighter,” he said.
Alison has not ridden a bike alone since her accident, though she and Tim have biked together.
The MRI at one year was negative. The only slight remnant of her injuries is an occasional minor delay in forming the words she wants to say. “Only Tim can really tell,” she said.
Alison will complete her residency at Children’s in December and wants to do primary pediatric care and sports medicine. Tim will finish in June 2013 and go into neurocritical care.
They both say they are better physicians for the traumatic experience as a patient and husband.
“I know what it’s like to be a patient and to be scared and what my family went through,” she said.
And they are better spouses. Tim had the numbers “10/16” – the day their lives changed –tattooed on the inside of his left wrist as a reminder.
“We don’t raise our voices, ever, even when one of us might be upset with the other,” he said. “We realize what we have.”
Alison will be in Columbus on Monday to speak to state legislators about a proposed bike helmet law for children. She has spoken at schools about the importance of wearing one.
“A helmet saved me life,” is part of her story.
With this coda: “Look to God, and never give up.”
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