Imagine you are out on a beautiful summers day for a run. You are about to embark on an open water swim, the sun is shining, and you are looking around at the breathtaking view around you thinking how lucky you are at this time in your life. Then your phone rings. It’s your partner telling you that they have had a serious mountain bike accident on the trails. They then tell you that they can’t feel anything… How would you feel? What would you do? Is this the moment that your lives change forever? This is exactly what happened to New Zealand running coach and mentor, Ali Pottinger on the 26th February 2022.
Ali Pottinger and Kerry Suter, both running coaches and founders of Squadrun, a running platform from New Zealand, have helped people achieve their running goals, especially in the trail and ultra space for years. Inseparable, the pair can be found bantering on the finish line of many races, climbing mountains together, or cheering on their runners, and now, side by side learning to live their new normal – a life challenged by disability.
On the morning of the 26th February 2022, Kerry suffered a catastrophic injury while biking in the trails surrounding their home in Rotorua, causing his neck to dislocate and break, impacting his spinal cord and leaving him a Tetraplegic. This resulted in the loss of the use of all four of Kerrys’ limbs and torso and catapulted him, and Ali into an unknown life of disability.
So much is shared about someone when they suffer such a traumatic loss, such as what has happened to Kerry, but I wanted to sit down with Ali and get her perspective as a loved one, who has had to go through such a trauma, seeing her partner, once strong and athletic, now broken and scared, and what it feels like to live the reality that life would never be the same as it was before that summers day. Not only that, how she has navigated advocating for Kerry, now as his carer to get the most for him, so that they can live a rich, fulfilling and adventurous life once outside the confines of hospital and rehabilitation.
Not only this, I wanted Ali’s perspective on how she has navigated this trauma, along with the excitement, and at times uncertainty, of the future ahead for their growing family, as Ali and Kerry share the journey to parenthood, expecting their first baby together; a pregnancy which they discovered only weeks before the accident.
As you will hear in this episode, this couple don’t give up easily, and just like any good ultra, hard work and dedication can lead to some pretty amazing outcomes, and although the journey to the finish line is traversed along high mountains and low valleys, the community that we share the trail with is valued most of all. This community; the Global running community, has rallied along-side our friends Ali and Kerry to help them financially navigate their road ahead. You can also donate at the links below, to show your support.
Australia: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kerry-ali-when-they-need-us-squadrun
New Zealand: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/kerry-and-alis-toughest-trail-run
You can find out more about Ali on Instagram at @ali.pottinger and check out more about Squadrun at squad.run.
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