Three years ago, Christi-Joe Snyders-Couchman was fighting for her life in a hospital bed.
Before that, she spent most of her young adult years in a wheelchair.
On Sunday, Snyders-Couchman celebrated crossing the finish line of her first five-kilometre race during the 2018 P.E.I. Marathon.
It was the culmination of hard work and perseverance after overcoming a near-death experience from an episode of respiratory distress and heart failure three years ago.
“I accomplished a lot that I didn’t know I could accomplish so I’m really excited and happy for myself,” said the 28-year-old Tignish resident.
Snyders-Couchman has spent much of her life in and out of the hospital after being born with DiGeorge syndrome, which is caused by the deletion of a small segment of a chromosome, and her spine is also crooked in three places due to scoliosis.
Because of her diagnosis, Snyders-Couchman required a trach tube to help her breathe from ages 14-16. The tube made her immobile and caused her to gain weight while her muscles began to weaken, a combination which left her in a wheelchair for about seven years.
In 2011, she worked up the strength to stop using the wheelchair.
“I grew stronger and was able to get myself out,” said Snyders-Couchman, who then grew a love for running by joining the Special Olympics.
Three years ago, she came first in the 100-metre and 200-metre races during a meet in Moncton.
However, shortly after her victories Snyders-Couchman underwent a hysterectomy.
After the surgery, something didn’t feel right.
“I just started screaming…‘My chest is sore, my chest is sore’,” recalled Snyders-Couchman.
Fluid had surrounded her heart and lungs and she went into respiratory distress and heart failure.
“They didn’t think she would pull through for a long time,” said Snyders-Couchman’s mother Josephine Clements.
It wasn’t her daughter’s first brush with death. Due to her syndrome, Snyders-Couchman does not have a strong immune system to fight infection.
“She has been very close to death quite a few times but this time I wasn’t sure she was going to come through,” said Clements.
Snyders-Couchman’s surgery turned into an eight-week stay at the hospital.
She survived.
When she got out of the hospital, she used an oxygen tank for a while but soon went back to work at the Maple House Bakery Café.
While things were mostly back to its usual routine, Snyders-Couchman was told she was not allowed to run for at least three years.
With the three years now up, Snyders-Couchman started training for the five-kilometre run with her disability support worker Jacquie Lidstone.
“I kept my courage up and I kept practising until I got the courage to run this,” said Snyders-Couchman.
In Saturday’s five-kilometre race, Snyders-Couchman finished with a time of 55 minutes.
Looking forward, she said her goal is to keep running longer distances in shorter times.
“After I do a 10 (kilometre), go a litter bit higher,” she said. “I don’t know how high yet, but I’ll think about it on the way.”
