As a college student at Indiana University, Brooke Van Paris was thriving as a business major, gymnast, and outgoing co-ed. After a car crash left her with two broken hands, she went through years of physical therapy and surgeries. She relied on her dad to help her through domestic tasks, asked friends to help her eat Lunchables before class, wrote papers using voice-to-text software, and graduated as a management major. When she finally got her casts off her hands, she’d experienced depression and claustrophobia – and she didn’t recognize herself as the independent, athletic person she’d been before the accident. She worked for Anheuser-Busch after college as a sales rep, and when a coworker asked her to do an obstacle course race, she agreed, with some hesitance. Brooke became obsessed, completing dozens of races in a year, including the world championships of obstacle course racing. That led to an opportunity to do a reality television show with a fitness angle, then to a new career as a personal trainer.
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