(Re)Gaining Ground: Carissa Johnson on How Setbacks Reveal Strength
/By Jill Farr
A “fit life” isn’t something that one achieves and then just sits back and enjoys; fitness is an ongoing pursuit, something that has to be maintained and cultivated. Setbacks occur, both large and small, and sometimes ground is lost, and has to be regained…and then surpassed, if we’re committed to progress.
“Setback” seems too small of a word to describe what happened to Carissa Johnson in May, 2011; she was struck head on by an SUV going full speed and pinned against a steel rail fence while working a promotional modeling gig in downtown Denver, CO.
She sustained bilateral tib/fib fractures and a compound left ankle fracture, and underwent surgery immediately; doctors inserted rods in both legs.
Carissa had just competed in her first NPC show the previous fall, and fallen in love with fitness competitions, winning 1st place in the Short Fitness Model class just a month before, at the WBFF Fitness Atlantic Championships. Before the accident, she had started training for the World Championships taking place in Toronto that August.
Although relieved to be alive, Carissa says that immediately, her thoughts went to how her world had changed.
“Not only were my legs destroyed,” Carissa says, “But my heart was broken. I wasn’t sure at the time if I’d ever be able to bounce back from this terrible experience.”
And she didn’t just “bounce back”. Progress was slow, and painful.
“My life post-accident consisted of 3 months on the couch,” Carissa says. “I was in a constant state of excruciating pain, even with medication. Even making it from the couch to the bathroom was an extremely difficult task. With both legs broken, even using a walker was challenging and painful as it felt as if I was crushing each leg with every step. I was essentially helpless, and never felt so low in all my life. I relied on my mom for assistance nearly 24/7.”
Despite the debilitating pain and the effects it produced on her outlook, Carissa was still able to break through the depressing circumstances by resolving to do whatever she could, whenever she could.
“Even though most of the time on the couch I ended up sleeping time away because being awake felt too difficult to handle at times,” Carissa says, “I had to do something. My solution became doing arm exercises with dumbbells off the side of the couch. Every morning I would spend 1 – 1 ½ hours simply lifting weights off the side of the couch and doing ab exercises. Even though my legs were smashed, and I wrestled with the idea of not having any hope of furthering a career in the fitness industry, I couldn’t accept defeat. I knew there was a possibility I’d be disabled, but for some reason I could never let go of my passion.”
The drive to maintain the level of physical fitness that she still had, coupled with the determination to do what was possible to do helped Carissa’s recovery, both mentally and physically, as did having health care professionals who were sympathetic. (Going back to the gym after physical injury should always be cleared with your doctor first, with an eye towards protecting your long term health.)
“Thankfully my PT at the time was a former bodybuilder and competitor,” Carissa says, “So he understood my undying drive to get back to normalcy. Even while my bones were broken, and I was still limping, I begged the PT to allow me to go back to the gym. I couldn’t move much, but I had to get back for my sanity.”
It was a slow process, but Carissa’s determination paid off; she finally made her Pro debut at the WBFF World Championships in 2012, just a little more than one year post accident.
“It's been a journey of epic proportions,” Carissa says.
And it’s a journey that’s still ongoing. Carissa underwent two additional surgeries at the end of 2013 to remove my hardware in each leg, and has struggled with PTSD, a battle that she says has been more difficult and paralyzing than she could have imagined.
As anyone facing a setback will discover, Carissa insists that maintaining her momentum came out of a desire to keep her dream going.
“In spite of the numerous challenges,” Carissa says, “I could never fully let go of my love and passion for fitness.”
Carissa also offers the viewpoint that we can embrace setbacks as challenges to our inner strength—similar to the way our physical muscles are broken down and built back up even stronger—and that we can not only overcome them, but look at them with gratitude, ultimately, as opportunities to see just what we’re made of.
“I’m so thankful for my journey,” Carissa says. “God has blessed me and strengthened me more than I could ever ask or imagine!”
“We all have our individual strengths that make us unique. We have no idea what we're capable of until we actually try - we are stronger than we think.”
“It's rewarding and incredibly empowering when you see how strong you really are.”
