Unstoppable: Lia Coryell

How did you get involved in your sport?

I attended an adaptive sports camp for wounded, injured and ill military veterans in 2014. One of the sports we tried was Archery and it immediately resonated with me because Archery is a cerebral sport – which is beneficial to me because my brain works much better than my body. Mastering archery is all about cadence and rhythm and timing. It is an individually aggressive sport that requires stillness and quiet and focus. All things that require just as much mental strength as physical skills.

What has your sport meant to you and taught you? 

I am the first W1 American woman to successfully make the USA National, World Championship and/or Paralympic teams. Ever. I am also the only W1 competing female archer in the North, South, Latin or Central Americas. So, I compete with the men in the Americas. Never in a million years did I ever think that as a round silver-haired middle-aged woman with a progressive and incurable illness, I would be competing for my country with world class athletes. In fact, this is the first and only team and sport I have EVER participated in my 56 years of life. My role in Archery has given me a platform to change people’s perceptions and expectations while challenging perceived stereotypes.

Archery has taught me that my mind is my greatest strength as an athlete. Today, I am stronger, wiser, braver, and more skilled as an archer because I believe I am capable of more.  Even as my disease continues to progress, my performance continues to rise. I continue to shoot personal bests and break national records. Because I believe I can.

What is one moment that has defined you as an athlete or person?

I was putting away my equipment at the Archery shop I belong to, when a tiny little boy in a wheelchair rolled past me. He immediately turned around and came back to the table my equipment was on. He rested his little chin and his hand on the table and watched me. He told me his name was Hunter. 

After a minute he asked me:

“Is that your own stuff? Is that your own bow? Is it a REAL bow, not a TOY bow? Are those REAL arrows?”

I assured him that it was indeed my own bow and equipment and that it was real.

“Can you shoot it all by yourself? Without nobody helping you? Like the REAL bow and arrow guys do it?”

I showed him some practice video I had just recorded on my iPad.  He got very excited and squealed when he saw me shoot my bow…from my wheelchair…and put all my arrows in the yellow 10 ring. He put his head on his hand and cocked his little head to the side to study the practice videos as I finished packing up. 

What he said next forever changed my life. “Geez Lia, I never knowed nobody who could shoot a bow like that and used a wheelchair that looked just like mine.”

He didn’t know or care what my scores were, what records I hold, what teams I am on or that I am a Paralympian. What he cared about was that someone who looks like him and rolls just like him…just proved to him that he could be the archer he dreamed of being. That powerful message is one I have had the honor and privilege of witnessing time and time again.

Based on your experiences in the military and as an athlete, what advice would you give to a younger version of yourself?

“Girl, let me tell you something. The thoughts about yourself that you put out in the world will come back to you twice as strong. You need to be careful with powerful energy like that. Be very intentional with what you believe about yourself. Your time is coming. 

Lia, don’t you think you have had enough of people just waiting to see you fail? Don’t you think it's time to show people that they have no idea about the fierceness and the fire that burns inside you? That fire that has been stoked for years by poverty and failure and disappointment and exclusion? Your time will come Girl and you will light up the world and blow their minds. All the years of struggle and loss and pain and not ever feeling good enough will be stoking your biggest strength. You will find success because you believed you could…even when nobody else did.’

What would you want people to know about your journey as a Paralympian athlete with multiple sclerosis?

Most importantly…do not let MS become your identity! Do not allow it to define who you are as a person! MS is a very fickle disease. It picks and chooses without rhyme or reason. Nobody can predict what a person’s experience with MS will be like. Even though doctors and specialists and insurance companies would like to think they know what is best and what the course of the disease is going to look like. Don’t let them predict your future or your medical outcomes. A strong mindset is your biggest and strongest MS flex.

What was your experience battling COVID like last year? 

I will honestly admit that I underestimated the impact COVID would have on my life and on my health. I exercise, I eat right, I manage my mental health, and I have a super positive and outgoing look on life. It was back pain and heart palpitations that took me to the ER where I tested positive for COVID on November 6th. I knew it would suck but I never thought it would nearly kill me.

COVID itself was like a bad flu and chest cold. I was on oxygen, steroids, anti-virals and a nebulizer. After battling COVID for 2.5 weeks I was very run down, weak, and sore but tested negative for COVID. It was the after effects of COVID that nearly did me in. 

Three days later I ended up back at the hospital struggling to breathe. I had bacterial pneumonia in both of my lungs, and I went into A fib, had severe bouts of tachycardia and my blood pressure was through the roof. I went into heart failure and beginning stages of kidney failure. Scared the daylights of me and everyone else. I was weary, worn out and tired of fighting. I actually thought about stopping treatment and just giving up but I cannot stand the thought of quitting, so I continued to fight. 

Exactly 2 weeks after my pneumonia diagnosis I woke up one morning with Shingles…on my face! There was a stripe of shingles blisters on my right nose, cheek and chin. Lovely. Three days after waking up with Shingles my blood pressure dropped dangerously low and my heart stuttered into A Fib again. I was feverish and so weak I couldn’t turn over. Blood work showed that I had a Staph infection in my blood. More specifically in my Shingles. Yay me.

I was finally cleared on January 17, 2021 to stop medications. It has been almost 10 weeks!  I am in stage one heart failure with some permanent damage but apparently that’s not too big a deal because the Doc was happy with how my ticker sounds.  I am not in kidney failure although there is permanent damage to my kidneys as well. My lungs are clear-ish and there is no sign of infection in my blood or organs. It’s go time now! I’m planning on training at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center for a few weeks starting next month.  

What does the future hold for you in terms of Tokyo 2021?

Realistically I think Tokyo will be my last opportunity to compete as an athlete so I am moving forward with the mindset that Tokyo will be my time to shine and my golden opportunity to medal. 

I don’t dwell on the things I cannot control. I’m not going to worry about all the details like quarantine and vaccines and what the Archery Venue will look like during a pandemic. I’ll gladly leave that up to the coaching and event staff. 

I’m going to focus on shooting my REAL bow with REAL arrows down a 50 meter lane and hitting yellow so bright that Hunter can see it all the way from northern Wisconsin!

I enjoy coaching and am working with a talented archer and future Olympic hopeful named Cameron so I may just be hanging out in his coaching box in Paris!