February 9, 2017. As Roosevelt said, “A day that will live in infamy”. That was the day that I was run over by a car.

My name is Kerry Houlihan. I am currently 50 years old and my life has drastically changed. I was formerly a participant in the Duke City half marathon and a Sprint triathlon. I joined an indoor and outdoor soccer team and later was part of indoor and outdoor sand volleyball teams, many of which I coordinated. I was working as a Hill Group contractor to the Indian Health Service to coordinate the Diabetes Prevention and Healthy Heart programs and, when those programs ended, I began to learn how to code the website.

I thoroughly enjoyed my full and active life and worked two days a week from home. I took my dog out for a walk one afternoon when a driver ran into me. My jaw was broken in half. My shoulder was shattered and my left arm was broken in 2 places. My right leg and knee were broken and my other leg was amputated below the knee. I suffered a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for several weeks. Upon waking from the coma in March, I could not move my remaining leg or either of my arms.

Above is me after I was released from the hospital. I have lost the ability to control my body weight, and I can no longer drive, dress myself, bathe myself, and I feel depressed all the time.

Maria Elena entered Early College Academy directly after 21st. Century.

Originally she was going to study nursing

Ultimately, she decided a different path

Upon graduation, she went directly into the military, and currently serves in the US Navy

I am profoundly proud of her❤️‍🩹

Maria Elena was not being challenged at Arroyo Del Oso, and she started acting out. My coworker had informed me of a charter school that was 5th grade through 8th grade. I toured the school and was very impressed. I enrolled Maria Elena, and I kept close dibs on her progress through the website. I encouraged Maria Elena to involve herself in extracurricular activities such as Soccer and Volleyball. I also encouraged her to join the Cross Country team, and I would often run with the group. The soccer team for the school was not the greatest, but the volleyball team was awesome, and Maria Elena was a natural.

We had been living in an apartment, and we realized that we could OWN a home for nearly the SAME price. We started to look for houses with a Real Estate Agency.

We teamed up with Patrick at Century 21 and settled on a home 😊

We played at Charlie’s for Two years, and we would switch up the team often. Although I loved all of my teammates, I particularly loved the Anthonys, two men who had met in college and had plans to marry in Cancún. One time we had a pajama night and one of the Anthonys came as Superman. From that point forward, I referred to him as Anthony Superman.

We played indoor soccer at the Copper Facility for several seasons, and our team name changed often. The facility was not very well-kept. The turf was coming up in certain areas and the goal boxes had openings in them. The bathrooms were particularly gross. However, it was a cheap price, and we continued to sign up to play.

We got to the point that we were able to set up evenings where we would invite whomever was available to come on Friday nights for open soccer for $5 a person. We would pay the fee to rent the facility and then give the leftovers to the desk attendant who kept score for us. In all, it was a cheap way to get more touches on the ball and get in some exercise.

In addition to the soccer facility, there were outdoor sand volleyball courts run by a man named Billy Bob. The volleyball was always fun, even when we got slaughtered by the other team. In the winter, Billy Bob arranged for us to play court volleyball in a nearby church. So we were a bunch of people having lots of fun.

We were involved in soccer, so it seemed to me that a group of athletes like ourselves could play other sports, too. We would start at Sneakerz Bar and Grill. We would play recreational volleyball with other rec teams and would pay a minimal fee to have a referee. At Sneakerz we would play 3 games to 21 points to determine the winner of the game and our spot in the rankings. We would get together to play volleyball and drink some beers and enjoy the outdoors.

Two of the people that trained with for the Triathlon were part of an indoor soccer team, and they needed another woman for the team. I was nervous because I had very limited soccer experience. I agreed to go and meet the team. I expressed to them that I was nervous as I was not going to be very good, but one of the guys on the team said to me,”we’re a C division recreational team, so we aren’t looking for a pro- just someone who wants to get some exercise and have fun “. I joined the team and had a blast. I was hoping that Victor could join, but they initially didn’t need a male player.

I was now playing indoor and outdoor soccer, working full-time and hanging out with my family and friends- life was amazing.

I was going to the YMCA nearly every day to workout, when I noticed that they were offering a Sprint Triathlon Training Program, and I wanted to try it out. We trained on all of the events and even trained for transition time training so that we would spend as little time as necessary peeling off wet swimsuits and getting ready to bike. We trained on nutrition, which triathletes refer to as fueling. We were taught to fuel on the bike so that we would have energy to run. My friends Joann and Karen, from the Duke City Half Marathon came to cheer me on. I was not aware that they were coming, but I was delighted that they did. As I began the running, I could hear them cheering me on, and I did the thing I had been warned NOT to do: I accelerated my pace and passed the guy in front of me and felt really good…until I didn’t. I had not calculated in my elation of passing the guy that the last part of the run was UPHILL and I could feel myself not having a good pace to finish off the race. I don’t remember what place I finished in,but I was elated that I had completed it!!

We would celebrate our Triathlon three times: once at La Fonda, once at our instructors’ house, and once at our friends’ house. I was able to have a13.1 sticker on my car rear windshield and now I had another sticker that said TRI

I wanted to continue incorporating running into my routine, and I decided to join the Oxygen Morons.

During the week, we’d meet up to run at UNM and we would also run at the Balloon Fiesta Park. Initially, I wanted to challenge myself to a full marathon, but I ended up doing the 5K instead. I was too busy with work and family to commit to something bigger.

I lined up to do the 5K, and I immediately knew that I had started off too quickly. I did not make the greatest time, but I finished and got cool swag !!