While at the Venice YMCA Triathlon this past weekend, we came across this beautiful young woman. Meet Katie Mathews.

We stopped to talk to Katie because we saw all of this going on near the transition area before the race. We saw the boat, and the wheelchair and we started wondering. Who was doing this triathlon?

It turns out that Katie’s step-dad Brian planned to do the entire triathlon with Katie. We knew immediately that we needed to find out more about this young woman’s story.

Katie is a beautiful 20 year old woman. She is also a quadrapalegic.

In 2006, Katie’s life changed forever.

She and her friend were on their way to a party.

As her friend drove, Katie called to get directions on her phone.

She had her phone on speaker so the driver could hear.

They heard the directions that they needed to get off at the exit they were passing.

The driver jerked the wheel to try to make the exit, but they were going 80mph.

The car flipped.

Four times.

The accident left Katie with a C-5/C-6 neck injury.

She is now numb from the chest down.

Partial paralysis limits use of her arms.

Katie, once a star basketball player, used to spend her time practicing her jump shot.

Now she spends her time speaking out about the dangers of distracted driving.

And that’s why she and her family were at the Venice YMCA Triathlon.

To raise awareness.

But they did something else there too.

They inspired hundreds of people by their strength and determination.

To find out more about Katie and her quest to end distracted driving, visit www.ktmathews.com