How Ali Truwit Qualified for the Paralympics One Year After Surviving Shark Attack (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Ali Truwit.Photo:Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty

Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty

Just over one year after losing part of her leg in a shark attack, former D1 athlete Ali Truwit will represent Team USA at the Paralympics.In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the 23-year-old Yale alum says she’s feeling “really grateful” before she goes for the gold in Paris.Truwit was on vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands on May 24, 2023 with friends, including her former Yale swim team captain Sophie Pilkinton, when a shark bit her, forcing an amputation of her foot and part of her lower leg.“I was conscious for the whole attack,” Truwit recalls. “My parents were in the United States at the time. I called my mom — well, the nurse called her — and I got on the phone and said, ‘Mom, I…,’ and I couldn’t even get the words out. I knew if I said the words, I would just…I was trying really hard to stay conscious, so I handed the phone to my friend Sophie who had to tell my mom.““I can’t imagine having to tell someone’s parent that. She’s another person who I’m like, ‘I’m forever indebted to you.’ “Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.In the first few hours after the attack, Truwit was just trying to stay awake. “We did breath work, we did mantras. I was on the phone with my mom the entire hours of waiting in that hospital in pain and then my parents met me in Miami when I was airlifted there,” she recalls.Ali Truwit.Ali Truwit/ Instagram"I went on the plane to Turks and Caicos with a five-year plan of my life and knew what my life was going to look like, and left on a medical evacuation plane not sure if I was going to live,” says Truwit, who had big plans to travel and “take some time to be silly and sun before getting into work.“In the fall, she was going to begin consulting for two years while she applied to business schools.Truwit says that the hardest part of adapting to her new life with a prosthetic is accepting the ways her attack has simultaneously affected her friends and family.“I was actually talking about this with my mom today,” she remarks, “I’m so lucky because this is hard for everyone. It’s hard for me that I went through that trauma, but I am acutely aware of the toll it takes on everyone in my orbit who has been there for me,” says Truwit.The Connecticut native is “really close” to her siblings, a twin brother and two younger brothers. “My mom is my best friend,” Truwit shares. “I have the greatest time with her and I can go to her about anything and it’s been that way my whole life. The same with my dad.““I often think about, “Will there ever be a way to repay my family for the way that they’ve been there for me in this year?” I honestly am landing at the answer no.““None of us have ever gone through this before. No one has a manual on how to support someone who goes through a shark attack, but they’ve really been great at going at my pace.“It turns out that Truwit’s “pace” is pretty darn fast.“I felt like I had lost a lot in the shark attack that I wasn’t going to get back. Like, my foot is not coming back. So the things that I could fight to get back, I decided I was going to do that,” she says ahead of the 2024 Paralympics, where she’ll represent Team USA.Ali Truwit.Ali Truwit/ InstagramHaving graduated from Yale’s swim team feeling “proud and grateful” to have been an “impactful member” that contributed throughout Ivy League seasons, Truwit says that ultimately, “That was kind of where my career in the pool ended.““Early on in my recovery, one of my friends gave me a book calledWhen Bad Things Happen to Good People, and the author argues: ‘We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond and how we make meaning of it.'“Truwit says being given that book was a “blessing” so early in her recovery. “I just decided I’m going to make meaning of this. I firsthand now know what a gift every day of life is. So I’m going to be grateful that I’m still here and alive and focus on the miracles.“Truwit set out to qualify for the Paralympics, which she says was also a great motivator in her often grueling recovery.When she started the process roughly six weeks after the attack, it also helped her “reclaim love of the water” amid dealing with PTSD flashbacks. “I was still learning to walk and I needed exercise,” Truwit says with a small laugh.“It was mostly just a quest for regaining my love of the water and for cardio but it kind of transformed into putting me on this path to Paris, where I ended up at my first Paralympic meet three and a half months out from the amputation.“When she competes in her first heat in Paris — in the 100-meter freestyle, S10 division, on Sunday, Sept. 1 — the former Bulldogs swimmer will have 50 of her friends and family there supporting her, including Pilkinton, 10 of their former Yale teammates and Olympic swimmer Kate Douglass, whom Truwit grew up with.Ali Truwit and her family wear Team Truwit hats ahead of 2024 Paris Paralympics.Ali Truwit/ Instagram"And then a lot of family friends, and aunts and uncles. The list goes on and on. My coach’s whole family is coming. He told me the other day his mom said she’s coming,” Truwit says.A self-described “Type A person,” Truwit says she’s “setting new goals” for herself when she gets to Paris. “To think about the fact that a year and a week ago, I was taking my first steps in a prosthetic leg. It was so painful and scary and hard. I had to relearn how to walk at 23 years old.““Now to think that a year later I’m going to be walking down the Champs-Élysées at the opening ceremonies as a Paralympian is just a crazy kind of moment. I think I’m actually typically someone who’s pretty forward looking and constantly setting new goals. This go around, I definitely have goals for Paris, but also just really making sure I take a moment to feel really proud of how far I’ve come in a year. So I’m feeling proud.“To learn more about all the Olympic champions and Paralympic hopefuls, come topeople.comto check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Paris Paralympics, beginning Aug. 28, on NBC and Peacock.

Just over one year after losing part of her leg in a shark attack, former D1 athlete Ali Truwit will represent Team USA at the Paralympics.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the 23-year-old Yale alum says she’s feeling “really grateful” before she goes for the gold in Paris.

Truwit was on vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands on May 24, 2023 with friends, including her former Yale swim team captain Sophie Pilkinton, when a shark bit her, forcing an amputation of her foot and part of her lower leg.

“I was conscious for the whole attack,” Truwit recalls. “My parents were in the United States at the time. I called my mom — well, the nurse called her — and I got on the phone and said, ‘Mom, I…,’ and I couldn’t even get the words out. I knew if I said the words, I would just…I was trying really hard to stay conscious, so I handed the phone to my friend Sophie who had to tell my mom.”

“I can’t imagine having to tell someone’s parent that. She’s another person who I’m like, ‘I’m forever indebted to you.’ "

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In the first few hours after the attack, Truwit was just trying to stay awake. “We did breath work, we did mantras. I was on the phone with my mom the entire hours of waiting in that hospital in pain and then my parents met me in Miami when I was airlifted there,” she recalls.

Ali Truwit.Ali Truwit/ Instagram

Ali Truwit/ Instagram

“I went on the plane to Turks and Caicos with a five-year plan of my life and knew what my life was going to look like, and left on a medical evacuation plane not sure if I was going to live,” says Truwit, who had big plans to travel and “take some time to be silly and sun before getting into work.”

In the fall, she was going to begin consulting for two years while she applied to business schools.

Truwit says that the hardest part of adapting to her new life with a prosthetic is accepting the ways her attack has simultaneously affected her friends and family.

“I was actually talking about this with my mom today,” she remarks, “I’m so lucky because this is hard for everyone. It’s hard for me that I went through that trauma, but I am acutely aware of the toll it takes on everyone in my orbit who has been there for me,” says Truwit.

The Connecticut native is “really close” to her siblings, a twin brother and two younger brothers. “My mom is my best friend,” Truwit shares. “I have the greatest time with her and I can go to her about anything and it’s been that way my whole life. The same with my dad.”

“I often think about, “Will there ever be a way to repay my family for the way that they’ve been there for me in this year?” I honestly am landing at the answer no.”

“None of us have ever gone through this before. No one has a manual on how to support someone who goes through a shark attack, but they’ve really been great at going at my pace.”

It turns out that Truwit’s “pace” is pretty darn fast.

“I felt like I had lost a lot in the shark attack that I wasn’t going to get back. Like, my foot is not coming back. So the things that I could fight to get back, I decided I was going to do that,” she says ahead of the 2024 Paralympics, where she’ll represent Team USA.

Having graduated from Yale’s swim team feeling “proud and grateful” to have been an “impactful member” that contributed throughout Ivy League seasons, Truwit says that ultimately, “That was kind of where my career in the pool ended.”

“Early on in my recovery, one of my friends gave me a book calledWhen Bad Things Happen to Good People, and the author argues: ‘We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond and how we make meaning of it.'”

Truwit says being given that book was a “blessing” so early in her recovery. “I just decided I’m going to make meaning of this. I firsthand now know what a gift every day of life is. So I’m going to be grateful that I’m still here and alive and focus on the miracles.”

Truwit set out to qualify for the Paralympics, which she says was also a great motivator in her often grueling recovery.

When she started the process roughly six weeks after the attack, it also helped her “reclaim love of the water” amid dealing with PTSD flashbacks. “I was still learning to walk and I needed exercise,” Truwit says with a small laugh.

“It was mostly just a quest for regaining my love of the water and for cardio but it kind of transformed into putting me on this path to Paris, where I ended up at my first Paralympic meet three and a half months out from the amputation.”

When she competes in her first heat in Paris — in the 100-meter freestyle, S10 division, on Sunday, Sept. 1 — the former Bulldogs swimmer will have 50 of her friends and family there supporting her, including Pilkinton, 10 of their former Yale teammates and Olympic swimmer Kate Douglass, whom Truwit grew up with.

Ali Truwit and her family wear Team Truwit hats ahead of 2024 Paris Paralympics.Ali Truwit/ Instagram

“And then a lot of family friends, and aunts and uncles. The list goes on and on. My coach’s whole family is coming. He told me the other day his mom said she’s coming,” Truwit says.

A self-described “Type A person,” Truwit says she’s “setting new goals” for herself when she gets to Paris. “To think about the fact that a year and a week ago, I was taking my first steps in a prosthetic leg. It was so painful and scary and hard. I had to relearn how to walk at 23 years old.”

“Now to think that a year later I’m going to be walking down the Champs-Élysées at the opening ceremonies as a Paralympian is just a crazy kind of moment. I think I’m actually typically someone who’s pretty forward looking and constantly setting new goals. This go around, I definitely have goals for Paris, but also just really making sure I take a moment to feel really proud of how far I’ve come in a year. So I’m feeling proud.”

To learn more about all the Olympic champions and Paralympic hopefuls, come topeople.comto check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Paris Paralympics, beginning Aug. 28, on NBC and Peacock.

source: people.com