Katherine’s lifelong challenges with medical disabilities have never slowed her from reaching her goals. She has been a five-time Rhode Island state champion and an eight-time national champion in high school track and field and for these accomplishments, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Rhode Island Interscholastic League. Katherine went on the earn her law degree and started her own law firm while also serving on the board of directors for the national and Rhode Island ACLU chapters and the Rhode Island Assoc. of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Her work was recognized and she was named “Rising Star” in criminal defense five years in a row. After serving with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Texas for a few years, Katherine had to retire based upon disability for medical reasons. Since retiring from law, she has penned a memoir called “Relentless: From National Champion to Physically Disabled Activist” and is currently active with her podcast named “The Phunky Diabetic Podcast”.

How and when did you decide to take on Track and Field?K: When I was in junior high, I watched my father teach my brother how to throw the discus and shotput. It looked so graceful, yet so powerful, and I wanted to follow in their footsteps.
When the time came for track sign-ups, I actually had no intention of throwing the hammer or the twenty-pound weight (the events I later excelled in), simply because I had no clue they even existed! It was only after our track coach asked for volunteers to try these relatively new events in girls’ high school track that I gave them any thought whatsoever, and yet those two are the events that completely changed my life for the better.

What is your most memorable championship and why?K: It would have to be my last set of indoor national championship meets my senior year of high school. A week or two prior, I’d lost the state championship meet by one-fourth of an inch in the weight throw, after having won the previous two years in a row. I’d been secretly battling diabulimia, a diabetic eating disorder, since that summer, and had lost a significant amount of muscle mass in the process. I was weak and exhausted and burnt out, and after the state meet, completely embarrassed that I’d basically given away my state title.
I’d been neglecting my diabetes in ways that hindered my athletic performance and would later do major damage to my long-term health. I had been hiding an eating disorder and diabetes burnout from my closest friends and family for months and was putting a full athletic scholarship to a NCAA Division I school at risk.
Part of me just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry after that state meet, but I was scheduled to throw in two national competitions to defend my titles from the last two years. I decided to push past my anxiety, guilt, and self-doubt, and to try my hardest to win the two meets (which I did). Performance-wise, I can’t remember the exact distances I threw, but what I will always remember and take pride in is the fact that I didn’t give up on myself when I easily could have.

What did you love about practicing law?K: I absolutely loved giving a voice to the voiceless and defending the constitutional and statutory rights of my clients. Many of them were dealing with mental health and/or substance abuse issues, many had histories of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, neglect, or trauma that contributed to their current circumstances, and almost all of them were ostracized or judged by society at some point in their lives.
It was the honor of my life to have been able to stand up in court on their behalf and advocate for their best interests, to make sure the government proved whatever acts my clients were accused of committing, and to show my clients that there was at least one person in their life that would fight for them, listen to them and not judge them.

What challenges did you face during your school days? How did you motivate yourself to face those challenges?K: It was often difficult to focus or think when my blood sugar was low (or going low), and hard to see the classroom board when my blood sugar was high.
When I was younger, I made sure to let my teachers know if I needed to check my blood sugar or go to the nurse’s office, but as a teen and young adult, I remember feeling embarrassed, like I’d be disrupting class and drawing negative attention to myself by using my blood sugar monitor, eating a snack, or giving myself an injection. If I could give advice to my younger self, part of it would definitely include telling her that taking care of your health, especially a disease that can be life-threatening if left untreated, is never something to be embarrassed about.

What are your other hobbies?K: I love to read, especially now that I spend most of my time in bed or reclined on the couch. Occasionally, I’ll blog about my thoughts or experiences, and I’ve recently started a podcast about the life experiences of type 1 diabetics and their support systems. And now that I’ve finished my memoir, I’ve started working on a couple of crime novels. Oh, and I love spending time with my dog!

What is your favorite place to visit? What do you love about that place?K: Two years ago, my mom took me with her on this amazing cruise to Indonesia and eastern Australia. My favorite part of the cruise (and my favorite vacation destination to date) was spending time on the Nusa Dua peninsula in southern Bali. The beautiful climate, the incredible temples, swimming in the Indian Ocean. I felt completely at peace there.

What is your suggestion for families of children with disabilities to empower their children?K: To encourage their children to dream big, to embrace their unique circumstances, and to appreciate their challenges as opportunities for character growth. Don’t try to conform, don’t try to appear “normal” (as if there is such a thing!). There’s beauty and power in being different. Their children can and will live amazing lives, even if those lives don’t appear exactly as their parents originally dreamed they’d be.

What tips/advice do you have for those in our community who want to pursue sports?K: Go for it! I know that sounds simple, but if you’re interested in a particular sport or event, why not at least try? Look into the sport or event, look at what it entails, how physically demanding it is, how technical of an activity it is, what kind of equipment it requires, etc. Look at some instructional YouTube videos (I’m not saying to follow everything they say or show you, but you’ll at least see some examples as to the basic form you’ll ultimately need to have in order to participate).
Before you sign up for the sport, do some research as to how those athletes train for their sport or event. If you’re interested in cross-country but you’ve yet to run a mile in your life, you might want to start by walking for a few miles first. Build up the muscles and/or stamina you’ll need for the particular sport, and then give it a go! If it’s a school sport and you think you’ll need accommodations, please do not hesitate to ask for them.
After that, remember to enjoy yourself! Being an athlete takes a lot of discipline and hard work, and it can be a bit more difficult of an experience when you have a disability or chronic illness, but you should also be having fun, win, lose, or draw.

Any special message for our community?K: I want those with disabilities and chronic illness to know that they're capable of achieving great things, but they can't afford to neglect their health in order to do so. I did myself such a great disservice by acting as if I was perfectly healthy and able-bodied, and one of my main goals for the publication and distribution of Relentless is to caution others against repeating my mistakes.
I’m so proud of the athletic accomplishments I achieved as a type 1 diabetic and young woman with a history of Spina Bifida Occulta and tethered spinal cord. And despite the fact that I worsened my diabetes and most likely brought on (or at least hastened) the development of several diabetes-related complications, I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish in my legal career as I endured dozens of surgeries and medical procedures and eventually became physically disabled.
That being said, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t hesitate to take better care of myself and my health conditions while I strived to achieve my goals. I don’t blame sports or law school for my choices. No one was forcing me to neglect my health in order to participate or excel. I did that to myself because I placed sports and law school and my law practice far above self-care, and that’s something I would discourage even a perfectly healthy, able-bodied person from doing.
Bottom line: Don’t try to keep yourself at anyone else’s pace. Don’t hold yourself to anyone else’s standards. Know who you are, what you want out of life, and what your mental, emotional, and/or physical health requires of you or your caregiver. Then map out a plan and start working toward your goals. Take it from me—you’ll amaze even yourself with how far you’re able to go!