Sep 14, 2020
Tina is a former gymnast, Division 1 competition cheerleader,
exercise physiologist and nationally certified physician assistant
who became an amputee in 2016.
She lost her leg after 10 surgeries failed to restore blood
flow to her leg from a rare vascular condition called Popliteal
Artery Entrapment Syndrome. She needed two revision
amputations the following year due to wound healing challenges from
impaired blood flow.
In 2018, just a few months from the last of 3 amputations, she
made a name for herself in the adaptive community winning
2nd place at the internationally attended CrossFit
Competition in Miami called “Wodapalooza,” training with the US
Paralympic Bobsled team in Europe, training with the US cycling
program in Colorado Springs, attending the Adaptive Training
Foundation in Texas and winning the CrossFit Adaptive Games in
Canada.
She began teaching adaptive fitness and became a disability
advocate as well as a mentor for those with permanent physical
impairments.
In 2018, Tina founded the 501(c) charity Less Leg More Heart
to further support the disabled community using her unique
knowledge as a both a medical professional and a patient,
identifying areas of need in this special population and executing
strategic partnerships with companies of similar philanthropic core
values.
This nonprofit provides peer mentorship, medical advocacy,
funding for holistic approaches to care and funding for home
services needed during transition. They engage local
communities and businesses to rally alongside families with
disabilities in distress, to create stabilized socioeconomic
circumstances and spread the joy of giving with the core belief
that, “We rise by lifting others up.”
In the episode we spoke about:
- What caused PAED?
- Would your background in gymnastics and cheerleading have
made that condition worse?
- Why does cheerleading get misunderstood?
- What was the transition like going from gymnastics to
cheerleading to onto CrossFit?
- Why did you have to go into mental preservation to come out
the other side?
- Do you think that because you come from an athletic
background you can be more stubborn then most?
If you had the opportunity to sit down with any athlete dead
or alive, who would that be and why?
Amongst others
You can learn more about Tina via the website lesslegmoreheart.com and connect with her on Instagram. You can connect with The Non-Profit Charity: Less Leg More Heart on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and Youtube.
For more information about The Mindset Athlete by connect with us on Facebook @mindsetgamepodcast
For more information about James Roberts (the host of the podcast), visit fitamputee.co.uk and connect with him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram