Shortly before Kate Bertko got to Amsterdam a couple weeks ago, she was using a cane to be able to walk. When she leaves, she will be wearing a medal.
In early July, eight weeks and a couple days before winning a bronze medal in the World Championships this afternoon, US women's single sculler Kate Bertko was texting friends from a hospital bed where she had undergone emergency abdominal surgery to fix an issue with twisted intestines.
This wasn't your standard arthroscopic surgery, involving a small incision and smart instruments; this was a carve-open-your-stomach ordeal. The photo at right is worth a thousand words, though we should probably issue a trigger warning before you click.
She had intended to contest the women's double at trials with partner Kristin Hedstrom, but that was obviously out of the question for someone who was still in the hospital a few days before the trials.
It had already been a wild summer for Bertko and Hedstrom, who were world silver medalists in the double last year in Chungju, Korea. The duo had lost the National Selection Regatta to this year's double of Michelle Sechser and Devery Karz, who then got the chance to qualify for the event by placing in the top four at a World Cup. They headed for the second World Cup, in Aiguebelette, France to try to lock up their spot.
In the meantime, Bertko and Hedstrom raced one another in the singles trials for the right to represent the US in the single if possible. But when Sechser and Karz couldn't quite qualify the double in France, Bertko and Hedstrom planned to get back in the double together.
Then Bertko ended up in the hospital. After major surgery, Bertko went into rehab that involved merely trying to stand up straight at first, as the stitches and muscle damage pulled her down into a bent position.
Three weeks later, on July 23, Bertko tweeted the following:
Standing fully upright for the first time in 3 weeks thanks to @DeirdreDPT #snipsnipsnip
— Kate Bertko (@KBertko) July 23, 2014
8 wks ago my guts were having an out-of-body experience. Excited for the LW1X final tomorrow at #WRChamps Grateful for the amazing support!
— Kate Bertko (@KBertko) August 28, 2014
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