Ali Truwit’s Memorable twenty sixth Birthday Raised Almost $300,000 For Her Foundation

The finest birthday reward Ali Truwit acquired this yr wasn’t truly for her.

It was for an 8-year-old lady named Belle, who misplaced her leg to most cancers. 

Thanks to Truwit’s Stronger Than You Think Foundation and the cash raised at its second annual Swim-A-Thon, held this yr on Truwit’s birthday (and the three-year anniversary of her personal leg amputation), the little lady shall be getting her first operating blade.

“She’s so positive and so determined, and her next goal is to be able to run,” Truwit mentioned of Belle, noting that operating blades price tens of 1000’s of {dollars}. “She’s so excited. She loves sparkles on her prosthetics, so she’s planning a pink, sparkly running blade, and she’s going to just take off.”

To say that Truwit has turned a horrific occasion into one thing that’s making a constructive impression on the lives of others doesn’t fairly start to explain it. In May 2023, Truwit was celebrating her commencement from Yale with a visit to Turks and Caicos. While snorkeling along with her pal and former Yale swimming teammate, Truwit was bit by a shark. Her leg was amputated on May 31, 2023 — her twenty third birthday. Just over one yr later, Truwit competed on the Paralympic Games in Paris, profitable silver in each the 400-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke S10, and launched Stronger Than You Think with the aim of supporting water security schooling, the Paralympic Movement and different girls and ladies with limb loss. 

In the brief time since its inception, the muse has raised $1 million, funded 23 girls and ladies to obtain prosthetics plus seven water security applications, and supplied greater than 13,000 hours of swim classes.

For this yr’s Swim-a-Thon, held at Chelsea Piers Connecticut in Stamford, an nameless donor provided a $100,000 match problem. At the identical time, prosthetics firm A Step Ahead Prosthetics mentioned that if the muse may meet the $100,000 aim, it could donate Belle’s operating blade. The occasion featured visitor appearances by Olympic swimmer Kate Douglass, Paralympian Gia Pergolini and NCAA lacrosse star Chloe Humphrey, along with model assist and giveaways, and Truwit reached her fundraising aim by elevating practically $300,000.