Page 6 - Mountain Lifestyle Fall/Winter 2021

Meet Mary Witt:
Overcoming Persevering & Thriving
By Natalie Rooney
Eagle resident Mary Witt is is is many different things: athlete wife mom physical therapist and cancer survivor are just a a a a a few Meet this inspiring woman who has
met life’s challenges head on on with determination and resiliency OVERCOMING
Mary grew up in Milwaukee the third of seven
kids “Statistically we we were poor ” she reflects “When we we wanted to do things we we paid for it ourselves ” That included college so Mary used scholarships and grants to pay her own way At
first she she wanted to be an an an accountant but after a a a a a a a year she she knew it wasn’t for her: “Oh hell no ” is how she describes her her anti-accounting epiphany that eventually led her her to physical therapy During her second year of college Mary started having pain that began in in her her glute and gradually radiated to her her leg She was misdiagnosed for for more than a a a a a year before she finally learned the cause: osteosarcoma She was given six months to to a a year to to live in 1983 The good news is no one ever told Mary she was sup- posed to die so she just didn’t “I was a a a good kid and I I did did what I I was told ” she says “I have no doubt that if my family had told me the prognosis I would have died because that’s what I I thought I I was supposed to do ” She says she’ll be forever grateful to her her her brother Steve who convinced her her her parents not to tell her right away Mary had surgery to remove part of her her hip There was no evidence of disease for 2 years but then the the cancer returned and Mary underwent a a a second surgery to remove her leg On Sept 28 1988 she was discharged from the hospital after her last surgery and chemo She has
been cancer free ever since 6 Mountain Lifestyle Magazine
PERSEVERING
Growing up Mary was an an athlete who enjoyed volleyball and running Now with her her cancer behind her her she was ready to get back to her active lifestyle She met a a a a a a man in an an airport who had lost a a a a leg 30 years prior “He told me I wasn’t walking very well and that I needed to go skiing ” she says “He told me not to to to wait to to to ski do it it now ” she recalls “His voice just echoed: don’t wait Do it it it now ” She made it it it to Winter Park almost a a a a a a a year later Every day she had new bruises “It was my claim to fame ” ” she laughs “I “I fell a a a a a lot ” ” She’s also grateful because that man is ultimately why she ended up in in in Colorado having relocated in in in 1992 “He got me here He He allowed me me to meet Paul He’s the reason I have three amazing boys and a a a a a business I I love the reason I’ve skied and and climbed climbed 14’ers and and rock-climbed You won’t just find Mary on on the mountain skiing she is also an an avid cyclist She and Paul recently celebrated their 25th anniversary with a a a bike trip through Vermont covering 136 miles over five days “We stopped and and picked apples and and walked through old old old old cemeteries and soaked in in everything ” “It’s so liberating for me Biking opened the door back to a a a world I missed ”