Community Event!
For Tickets: Contact Kearin at kearin.creech@gmail.com
Trinity Lowthian, a four-time Pan American medalist in wheelchair fencing from Ottawa, Ontario. I'm on the path to qualifying for the Paris 2024 Paralympics. My journey has not been an easy one, and I need your help to get there!
By supporting me today, you are investing in something bigger than just a fundraiser. You're changing my life. You are helping me achieve what I am working so hard for.
My Story
My path to this point hasn't been easy - my health has thrown me some unbelievable curveballs. My childhood was spent dreaming of the Olympics and standing on podiums for competitive biathlon, triathlons, cross-country and water polo. Then, in 2018 my life began to change when I could not eat and drink enough to maintain my energy. Doctors determined that my Autonomic Nervous System was compromised but could not understand why. I could no longer play the sports I loved, and my sole focus was staying alive. Unable to eat, I became reliant on nasojejunal tube feeding, but I was still malnourished. Finally, in 2020, I had a Hickman line placed, and I began life at home on Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) as my sole source of nutrition supplemented with IV hydration. And by the end of 2020, I became reliant on biweekly blood transfusions. (So, a big thank you if you are a blood donor!) I did not give up during those unimaginable years. I spent my last two years of high school in the hospital, fighting endless complications. Still, I graduated with honours and began my degree in the Nutrition Sciences at The University of Ottawa. Unfortunately, my hospital trips continued during my first two years of university; more invasive testing, surgeries, blood transfusions, and time in the ICU.
In January 2022, my neurologists suggested a treatment of Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG). I was eager and hopeful to start but ended up battling meningitis and pneumonia after my first treatment. After recovery and always a fighter, I continued the weekly IVIG treatments and became stronger. I longed to return to sports and the thrill of competition, so in May of 2022, I contacted Paul at The Ottawa Fencing Club, asking to train as a para-athlete with the club. My sights were now set on the Paralympics. I found my niche in Wheelchair Fencing and have quickly shown success internationally. My first ever competition was in October at the IWAS PanAmerican Wheelchair Fencing Championships in Brazil. I shocked everyone by reaching the final in my first-ever senior event. I won 4 medals; 2nd epee individual, 3rd sabre individual, 3rd foil individual, and 3rd epee women's team. I currently have a Senior World Ranking in the top 20 (and I am the youngest athlete in this group).I am still adjusting to my life with Autoimmune Autonomic Neuropathy and I love my newfound freedom with my wheelchair. I get all my nutrition and hydration through the Hickman line in my chest, and I am at the hospital for IVIG treatments every Saturday. Thanks to this, I can thrive and have the strength and energy to be the top Canadian para-fencer in my category! How I keep myself alive looks a lot different from most people, but it has not hindered me in any of my competitive endeavours - I truly went from surviving to thriving!
I proved to myself and my coaches that my goal to make it to the Paris 2024 Paralympic for wheelchair fencing is possible. I have the talent, drive and willpower to make it, BUT it will be costly. After everything I have battled to make it here, we can't allow money to be what stops me. I need your help and your donations to make my goal a reality.
My path to success will be costly, and para-fencing is heavily underfunded in Canada. I train tirelessly with my coaches Paul ApSimon and Benjamin Manano at the Ottawa Fencing Club. There are no para-fencing training camps or competitions in Canada, meaning I must travel internationally to qualify for the Paralympics. The 2023 World Cup season will see me competing in Washington DC, Italy, France, Poland and Korea.