Miracle members Costco members defy the odds Costco members defy the odds
AFTER A CYCLING accident during
a ;;;; triathlon left her a paraplegic, Costco member Beth Sanden
was never supposed to walk again.
But the Ironman champion and
multiple triathlon winner had other
ideas. In the years since, after recovering partial use of one leg, the now
;;-year-old has competed in ;; marathons and ;; triathlons. She has
also earned a place in the Guinness
Book of World Records, having completed
seven marathons on all seven continents.
Sanden, competing as a “challenged
athlete,” has shown what a partial paraplegic can accomplish. In triathlons, she uses
a handcycle for the bike and run portions,
SPECIAL SECTION
FOR YOUR HEALTH
COSTCO MEMBER Vivian Stancil
received some sobering news from
her doctor at age ;;: If she didn’t change
her health habits, she likely wouldn’t see
;;. At ;;; pounds, Stancil was legally
blind, experiencing a heart murmur and
grappling with a lifelong fear of water. The
Riverside, California, resident says swim-
ming was one of the few options she had to
lose weight, on account of her chronic joint
pain. “It took that [threat] for me to get
serious,” she tells The Connection. “I didn’t
want to die.”
After her husband encouraged her to
get into the water at a community pool, she
jumped in, shaking and afraid, then bobbed
up and realized, “This isn’t so bad!” Stancil
worked with a private coach who got in the
water with her to help her position her arms
and feel movements so she could learn
different strokes.
Early in her lessons, her back went out
as she was trying to learn the butterfly, and
she encountered a hospital doctor who
questioned why an “old lady” would be
trying to learn that particular stroke. It
made her so mad that she resolved to master it. By ;;;;, she was competing in state
and national competitions, and she became
a regular competitor at the National Senior
Games ( nsga.com), winning several medals.
Stancil has since become an honored
Senior Olympian. Today, at ;;, she’s more
than ;;; pounds lighter and still competes
in the games at the state and national level,
often as the oldest swimmer.
JEFF LEWIS/INVISION FOR HUMANA/AP IMAGES
Ever feel like quitting? You won’t dare feel that way
again after reading the inspirational stories behind these
Costco members.—T. Foster Jones
She started the Vivian Stancil Olympian
Foundation ( vivianstancilfoundation.org),
which teaches athletics and healthy lifestyle
choices to disadvantaged youths and
seniors. She also sits on the board of the
Riverside Commission on Disabilities.
“I think positive,” she says. “I hang
around positive people, and [that’s] what
gives me that competitive spirit. You
take one day at a time and you enjoy
what you have. I don’t have bad days.
I don’t allow people to tell me that I
cannot do something because I’m
blind or I don’t have enough sense.
Maybe I’m not doing it the way they’re
doing it, but I look up and not down.”
—Hana Medina
OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS
Click here to watch Vivian Stancil
talk about her journey. (See page 10
for details.)
and her wetsuit keeps her legs buoyant
enough for her swim segments. For some
marathons, such as the Great Wall
Marathon in China, she uses a combination
of a cane, walker and handcycle.
Sanden completed the Kilimanjaro
Marathon in Tanzania, the Ross Marathon
in Tasmania, the Lima;;K Marathon in
Peru, the Boston Marathon, the Rome
Marathon in Italy, the White Continent
Marathon in Antarctica, the Phu Quoc
International Marathon in Vietnam and,
as the first female challenged athlete in the
event, the North Pole Marathon, a race that
takes competitors on a ;;.;-mile course in
subzero temperatures over the frozen Arctic
Ocean.
The San Clemente, California, resident
also volunteers for the Challenged Athletes
Foundation in San Diego, brought handcycles to Africa and South America, and
coaches at the Orange County Paratriathlon
Camp. In addition, she coaches members
of Camp Pendleton’s Wounded Warrior
Battalion–West in track and field.
“The reason why I’m doing this is to
hopefully inspire other guys and gals like
myself,” Sanden says. “There are things out
there you can do even if you’re disabled.”
—TFJ
Beth Sanden
Vivian Stancil
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