TOKYO — No spectators will be allowed at the Paralympics in Tokyo when the games kick off as the area remains under a COVID-19 state of emergency. A Pennsylvania native with an inspiring story is joining the broadcast crew this time around.
Dr. Michelle Konkoly is an Olympic champion and she is a survivor. As a Division I swimmer at Georgetown, she had an accident her freshman year that almost killed her: she fell out of a dorm window on the fifth floor.
“Ended up breaking my spine as well as many other bones, including my ribs and ended up with a spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed from the waist down,” she said.
Amazingly, she landed on her feet and then eventually re-learned how to walk on those feet. She was even able to get back on the swim team.
Konkoly made it all the way to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio where she won two gold medals along with a silver and a bronze. Inspired by her recovery and the doctors who helped her achieve it, she became a doctor and is now doing her residency at Nemours Children’s Hospital in New Jersey.
She’ll be joining NBC for their coverage of swimming events for the games before returning to the hospital.