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A volleyball star from Texas is proving that no challenge is insurmountable as she vies for a place in London Olympics after narrowly escaping death, NBC News reports.
Last April, three-time Olympian Stacy Sykora was involved in a near-fatal car accident in Brazil that left her brain damaged. According to the Star-Telegram, doctors put Sykora in a medically-induced coma after the accident, unsure as to whether or not she would survive.
"They were waiting to see if my brain was going to be OK, if I was still going to live," she said.
To the astonishment of her doctors, 34-year-old Sykora made an incredible recovery and is now back on the volleyball court.
"They were like, 'You are a miracle,'" she said.
The athlete admits, however, that the road to recovery has not always been smooth.
Over the last year, Sykora -- who was a member of the U.S. silver-medal volleyball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- has had to re-learn how to eat and walk. She has no recollection of the days immediately preceding and proceeding the accident and her eyesight remains affected by the injury.
But Sykora has not allowed any of this to discourage her from playing the sport she loves.
"Stacy has always had her eye on what she wanted," her mother, Sherian Richards, told the Star-Telegram. "She just doesn't give up."
According to NBC News, Sykora is playing this season with her team in Brazil and now has her sights set on the upcoming Olympic Games.
"People might say it's impossible," Sykora told the Orange County Register. "Nothing's impossible. Is it going to be tough? Oh, hell yeah. But I'm not going to let go. This is what I lived for."
"I’m going to scratch and claw. I’m going to take my gloves off and go after it," she said.
Whether she goes to the Olympics or not, both Sykora and her mother agree that her survival has been worth more than any medal.
"I'm just so thankful to be alive and thankful to be able to try again," Sykora said.