From coma to Boston Marathon, Oklahoma woman defies all odds after scooter accident
After almost dying from a freak accident that left her temporarily paralyzed
By Kilee Thomas
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EDMOND, Oklahoma (KOCO) — After almost dying from a freak accident that left her temporarily paralyzed, an Oklahoma woman ran the Boston Marathon on Monday.
In January 2023, Rachel Foster was focused and determined to walk again after an accident months before nearly took her life. Two years later, she ran the Boston Marathon with that same hunger for life.
“Running in general has always been a part of my life. It makes me feel strong. It makes me feel independent,” Rachel said.
Rachel and her husband John were on a date night when she suddenly collapsed off her scooter.
“We still don’t know. We still don’t have an answer,” John said.
She broke more than 30 bones and suffered a severe brain injury. In the hospital, time was slipping away.
After 1o days in a coma, John planned to wait 24 more hours before saying goodbye. During those hours, Rachel woke up.
“My next memory is looking up at hospital lights and seeing doctors, I’m assuming, leaning into my field of vision saying, ‘Rachel, there’s been an accident. You’re in the hospital.’ I was in 100/100 pain and confusion,” Rachel said.
But it didn’t stop Rachel. Just months after her first steps, she ran the Boston Marathon in 2023.
“The accident happened. It’s awful. My whole life changed, but I just wanted that back. I wanted that peace, that prayer, that meditation every single morning,” Rachel said.
On Monday, she finished the race in three hours and 39 minutes.
Oklahomans knew the couple from their Italian restaurant in Edmond, Moni’s. They have since closed their doors.
Now, Rachel hopes to inspire others to not count themselves out of the race.
“In 2023, I just wanted her to live,” John said. “This time was a lot more emotional for me, because she was herself again. I wasn’t her caretaker this time around. I was a supporter,” John said.
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