BEAVERCREEK, Ohio — On May 27, 2019, Deborah Wailes returned to her townhome in Beavercreek, exhausted but exhilarated. She had just completed a 220-mile bike race in Kentucky and was looking forward to a night of rest and relaxation.
She nodded off on the couch while watching TV, unaware within a few hours, what used to be her bedroom would end up blocks away, her building would be gone and her neighbors would be pulling her out to safety.
“Then the townhome started shaking and within five seconds, the wall just came blowing in, hit me and right away, I knew my legs were shattered,” she said. “A big sheet of glass was laying right on top of me and that could have literally cut me in half.”
Wailes said she was immobilized, pinned under the debris afraid the rest of the building would collapse or the weight would crush her. Then she heard voices and began to yell.
“Three of the neighbor men came in and kind of wrapped me up in a blanket and pulled me out,” she said.
Wailes points to footage of her wrecked home
By the time she got to the hospital, the orthopedic surgeon confirmed her fears, her legs were severely broken. She wouldn’t be able to walk without extensive surgery and physical therapy.
“This one here, was just mostly the ankle area,” she said pointing to her left leg. “This one here was the ankle area but also up here and this one has a rod in it still.”
Wailes spent months in a wheelchair, living with one of her sons and daughter-in-law and getting rides from friends to Kettering Health and the local YMCA.
“I could not put any weight on my legs and once my bone doctor said that as long as I sat on a recumbent bike and had my legs out, I could do that motion,” she said.
That’s how Wailes started her recovery. Eventually moving from the recumbent bike, to the pool, then she started walking, hiking and riding the bikes her family found in the wreckage of her townhome.
“I lost pretty much everything but it was amazing that my bikes, both of them, survived,” she said.
Wailes took it as a sign that God knew what she needed to recover.
Wailes carries her bike upstairs to her apartment
“Just being able to exercise and just get the flow and the juices flowing in your body,” she said.
By December 2019, Wailes was ready to move into a place of her own. She chose an apartment in Kettering, specifically requesting a room on the third floor, no elevator.
“Out of principle,” she said. “It’s physical therapy.”
Every time Wailes walks up the stairs, or carries her bike or groceries to her room, she said she’s getting a little stronger. She said it’s what she needs if she ever wants to meet her ultimate goal, running again.
“I was a good runner so it was hard losing that ability,” she said.
“Good” is modest. Wailes started running marathons in her 50s, and by the time the tornado hit, she had run more than 20 including, four Boston Marathons. She was there in 2013 when a bomb went off at the finish line, then returned the following year to show her solidarity with the city and fellow runners.
Wailes wasn’t just prolific though, she was fast. She’d come in first and second several times for her age group.
Wailes after finishing the Boston Marathon in 2013
Two years into her recovery, Wailes said running is still too much for her legs and ankles to handle. She’s been able to alternate between walking and running, but she has a long way to go before she’s race ready. Running another marathon may never be possible.
“I have a new normal now and I have to learn what I can and can’t do,” she said.
Wailes said she’s not giving up just yet. She wanted to share her story in the hopes it inspires others to push themselves and their bodies but she said her legs are still a work in progress.
At 67 years old, Wailes said she’s got a lot of races left to run, and she plans to do whatever it takes to get there.
“You don’t know me,” she said. “I’ll find a way.”
