THUNDER BAY – An Atikokan woman who had to have her legs amputated just below the knees in 2015, is getting ready to compete in a biathlon in Florida next weekend.
Kaleen Torbiak has spent the past 18 weeks training hard for the event, which involves cycling and kayaking.
[When] I get across that finish line, and I know it's going to happen, I'm going to be doing it whether I'm crawling across it or not, but I will get across that finish line,” she said.
“And then I would have just proved myself that there is nothing that can stop me, nothing.”
Seven years ago, Torbiak suffered severe frostbite after a suicide attempt and, in the years since her double amputation, she's rehabilitated herself both mentally and physically, to the point of challenging herself to attempt 120 miles of kayaking and bicycling from Key West to Key Largo, FL.
Thanks to the new prosthetic legs that she got in June, the 45-year-old has progressed tremendously in her training, and says she's poised to find out just how far she can push herself.
I would say what's motivating me to do this is, just to see if I can do it, if I can do 120 miles in three days on prosthetic legs, then I can't even imagine what my next goal is going to be,” she said.
“I don't even know what my next goal is going to be, running I guess, getting back into running.”
Torbiak will be competing against 26 other participants when she takes part in the biathlon.
