Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor From Moraga Places 3rd in Female Physically Challenged Division at IRONMAN In Augusta

Amy Morosini, a 45-year-old Traumatic Brain Injury survivor from Moraga, placed 3rd in the Female Physically Challenged Division at the Ironman 70.3 Augusta triathlon.

Morosini completed the 2014 Intermedix Ironman 70.3 in Augusta, Ga., in a time of 8:48.

As part of IRONMAN Foundation’s “Your Journey, Your Cause” program, IRONMAN® formed an exclusive partnership with The Scott Rigsby Foundation.

Called “Operation IRONFREEDOM,” the Scott Rigsby Foundation enables injured warriors to compete in the event, as well as support warriors and their families as they transition home from service in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

Morosini raised $3,350 for the cause this year, then competed herself as part of Operation IRONFREEDOM.

“My goal is always to just cross the finish line,” Morosini said. “No matter how long it takes me, I just want to complete what I set out to do. Prove to myself that my disability doesn’t control me, I control my disability. Hopefully, I can use this achievement to inspire others with a Traumatic Brain Injury. Show them that a TBI doesn’t have to be prison sentence; they can still live a happy life. Don’t give up.”

Morosini, a Rutgers University graduate who lives in Moraga, suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in 1997 after falling out of a third story window in an apartment building in San Francisco.

She spent almost 2 months in three different hospitals undergoing numerous surgeries and rehabilitation. Doctors initially told Morosini that she might never walk without assistance again.

Morosini now volunteers as a fitness instructor for the Veterans Administration in Martinez.

“Our servicemen and women are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with Traumatic Brain Injuries and they wonder how am I going to live the rest of my life like this… do I even want to live the rest of my life like this? I’ve been there and I want to show them if I can make it, so can they.”

TBI is one of the invisible wounds of war, and one of the signature injuries of troops wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Survivors may have limited function of arms or legs, abnormal speech or language, loss of thinking ability or emotional problems.

The Department of Defense estimates that since 2000, over 307,000 military personnel worldwide have suffered a TBI and according to the VA, an estimated 22 veterans committed suicide in America each day.

About The Scott Rigsby Foundation

Scott Rigsby set a world record at the IRONMAN World Championship, becoming the first double below-the-knee amputee using prosthetics to finish the event. As if that wasn’t enough to inspire people around the world, Rigsby formed The Scott Rigsby Foundation to support individuals with physical challenges to “Do the Unthinkable” in their own lives.

--Image and information courtesy of The Scott Rigsby Foundation.