<2>She Was Paralyzed Just Two Years Ago. Now Katie Verderber Is Representing Team USA in the Paralympics.
<>On the morning of October 3, 2023, Katie Verderber couldn’t get herself out of bed. From the belly button down, her lower body had suddenly stopped responding. “I remember lying in the bed just thinking, things are eventually gonna wake up,” she told Outside. Verderber, 35, spent the previous year in severe and debilitating pain, which made even the simplest tasks a challenge. Her doctor diagnosed her with a rare condition called transverse myelitis, which affects the spinal cord and can cause paralysis.
<>Katie Verderber’s journey to the Paralympics began with a long and arduous recovery process. She spent months in physical therapy, learning how to walk again and regain control over her lower body. It was a gr