Surfboard accident leaves Coloradan with torn hip flexor now running in the Colfax Marathon
The annual Colfax Marathon brings tens of thousands of people to City Park each year for the big race. Among those racing this year is Meredith Dixon, who just a few years ago did not know if she'd ever be able to walk again.
Meredith, and her husband took a trip to Kauai, Hawaii in 2019. They spent two and a half weeks on the island, and on their last day there, destruction broke loose.
"We were surfing and wave kind of just came down on me wrong and put the fin of the surfboard straight into the upper quad area of my leg" explained Dixon.
"My husband grabbed me, put me on his board and surfed me in..."
Dixon says she was brought to the hospital where she spent two days recovering. She was sent home not knowing what condition she would be in, let alone her ability to walk.
The fin of her surfboard tore through her quad and hip flexor, Dixon says doctors compared it to the equivalent of being shanked in the leg.
Dixon said she loved the outdoors and grew up playing sports, both of which she could no longer do as she prepared for a long journey to recovery.
"It was a really long road... over 18 months of recovery," said Dixon. "Things can change when you least expect it."
After over a year of healing, Dixon began to slowly get back into doing the things she loves.
"Running kinda just came with that. I started running and one day wondering if I could run a little bit further than 3 miles," said Dixon.
Two marathons later, Dixon is now preparing for this year's Colfax Marathon.
"My whole family will be in town to support me and watch me finish, so I'm super excited for that."
In 2021, Dixon returned to Kauai with her then-boyfriend at the time. They revisited the beach where her life-changing accident occurred and where she soon became a wife.
