MORELLI Shawn

Classification
C4 (UCI, 26 May 2021)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (girodcc.com, 09 Nov 2014)

Impairment Details
She was hit by an improvised explosive device while serving with the US military in 2007 in Afghanistan. The blast blinded her left eye, damaged her neck and spine, and resulted in brain trauma. "When I look back on my life, obviously, the turning point is not something I was expecting. It took me a while to not only understand what happened to me and heal, but also to accept and even longer, to figure out what I was going to do with my life." (paralympic.org, 06 Feb 2020; girodcc.com, 09 Nov 2014)

General
ARMY VETERAN
She served in the US Army as an engineer officer. "I believe my career in the US Army has helped me in my cycling career, in many ways. First off, it helps me keep things in perspective. I mean when you have seen, done and been through some of the things I have, it is easy to just think to myself, 'I am just racing a bike'. It is not nearly as much pressure as when you are working in a combat zone and are responsible for the 30 lives around you - fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, husbands, wives. That is pressure, that is stress. As for the adrenaline aspect, it is pretty similar. It has taught me how to be full of adrenaline, keep my focus and do my job." (teamusa.org, 30 Mar 2020; paralympic.org, 06 Feb 2020)

MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES
She was medically retired from the US Army in 2012 due to the wounds she sustained in battle. "It took me a while to not only understand what happened to me and heal, but also to accept and even longer, to figure out what I was going to do with my life. This was a very up and down time in my life, I struggled with alcohol, which I used to deaden the pain. I was self-destructive and I attempted suicide. I wanted the mental and physical pain to end. It was not until I made a conscious decision while in the hospital recovering from that attempt that I was going to live, and live every day for all those who never came home. I made one simple goal, 'To be better today than I was yesterday'. Cycling has become my path to healing both mentally and physically." (infocrank.cc, 26 Jun 2020)

PLAN AFTER TOKYO
She has coached young people in football, and plans to pursue the career more seriously following the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "Soccer [football] is still my passion, if I could still play I would. I have not coached in few years but after Tokyo, I plan on taking my advanced certification and start coaching again. I found that with my training schedule, especially leading into the Games, I could not devote the required time to the kids. I believe if you are going to do something, you do it 100%, and right now I am not able to that." (paralympic.org, 06 Feb 2020)

FURTHER EDUCATION
She completed a master's degree in public administration at Webster University in Webster Groves, MO, United States of America. (teamusa.org, Mar 2017)