Sask. athlete takes on the world of para-athletics after life-changing accident

At 15 years old, Claire Norrick experienced a life-changing accident. She lost her right leg, and everyday tasks became something she had to learn to do all over again. Nowadays, Claire is competing in para-athletics at the national and international level in the events of seated shot put and discus. Just this past weekend, Claire was recognized with a Saskatchewan Athlete with an Impairment Award. She joins me now in studio. Good morning, Claire. Morning. Can you tell us more about what happened when you were 15? I was in a quad accident. I was going home and I didn't look both ways and I kind of I got hit by a truck and I lost my leg. I kind of, I actually, I was airlifted by stars and I spent three months, almost three months in JPCH, the children's hospital here. So shout out to them. They're awesome. How did you first get involved in para-athletics then, Claire? Well, it was actually a funny story. So my sister, Abby, is a... She went to provincials for discus. Actually, she won one year. My dad wanted a banner with our name on it, and she got it for him. But... So my brother went to support her, and he was with his friend Parker, and they went to a booth, and it was like para-athletics. And he was like, I have a disabled sister. And they were like, oh my gosh. Jen and Rebecca were like, oh my gosh, give us her number. And when he told me about it, I said, no, I'm in my first year of university. I'm going to be so busy. Spoiler alert, not. Nobody's ever busy in their first year of university. Thank you. And so then it was the next year and they emailed Parker, my brother's friend, emailed my brother to my mom to get to me. They're like, hey, can we have a meeting? We're doing the candidates. There's the Canada Games this summer and we don't really have any para throwers. And we heard you're a thrower and now you're para. So would you like to do this? And so I went to a try it day, I think January. I just loved it. It was so cool. And what did you like about it? What did it bring to your life? It was just, I kind of, I felt powerful. Mostly, like in the beginning, I was just hucking shotputs, not really. Any training or any, I was just hucking shot puts and I was like, Oh, I've had the power. And I just really liked hanging out with all the people there. So it was like a shout out to my, I'm saying shout out, like I'm on a podcast. Um, uh, my coaches, Jen and Tyrell, they were really cool. And then I throw with a group of throwers. So I threw, I throw with Maitland and Tracy. And so, um, I just went there and it was just every time we traveled, every time we did anything, it was just the support was amazing. They helped me with everything. I was like, is this the form I should be having? And they're like, no, throw it like this. I was like, thank you so much. And so it kind of just built where it's after I did the Canada Games, I had to like look at myself because I kind of went there because I was the only thrower. And after that, I was like, I want to be here because I'm really good. And so I started really training and it actually ended up with me. I was like, this is something I want in my life. It's important to me. I feel strong. I feel powerful. It kind of gives me a purpose. I go to the gym now. I got a Fitbit. Wow. And you've recently been recognized with the Saskatchewan Athlete with an Impairment Award. When you sort of look back at your journey, Claire, how do you define success for yourself as an athlete? Well, it's crazy because when they were presenting the award, they were reading off all this like this stuff about me and I was like stats or whatever. And I didn't even know. I was like, oh, first time hearing this. Crazy. They were talking about how I'm first in discus or something in Saskatchewan. I was like, oh, yay. Like, didn't know. So it's kind of like success for me is, I don't know. I always just, it's. It's a singular sport, right? So you are competing against other people, but you're competing against yourself. And I think that's what I really enjoy about it. And so it's like, if I get a PB, it doesn't matter as much as, like, I know I worked as hard as I could, and I have no regrets after I compete because I did everything I could to get what I threw. Yeah. That kind of thing. That's just me. Like, you just keep bettering what you threw. Yeah.