Maria Papalia-Meier is a fighter.
She may have been KO'd, and down for the count, but she proved them
wrong. I am a Runner is about surviving sepsis, a coma,
and amputation.
Maria has a BBA with an emphasis in Human
Resources, and has worked for Fed-Ex for
twenty years.
As an athlete she has many
accomplishments. Before her battle with the river of death she'd competed and
ran in multiple
5K’s.She was told she'd never run
again. She proved the naysayers wrong. Her athletic accomplishments include
running in a 5K,
and a 1/2 Marathon. I am a Runner - the Memoirs of a
Sepsis Survivor is available in print and e-book.
1.
What inspired
you to write this story?
I am hoping my
story will help motivate others to never give up. My journey was not easy but
if you have an end goal in mind, and live each day to reach that goal, you will
succeed. Nothing is impossible!
2.
Tell us about
your new book.
It is a story
of who I was, what I went through after surviving sepsis, and who I became.
3.
What motivates
you for a perfect running day?
Somedays when I don’t feel like running, when
it is cold and wet, I am reminded that I have been given the gift to run again
and every day I can is a blessing. When I think back to the days when I was
told I couldn’t, and now I can I feel like if I don’t I am not using the
blessing I was given. After a run the feeling of accomplishment I have and the
way it makes me feel can’t be explained.
4.
What is your
favorite thing about being a runner?
The peace it
gives me, it relaxes me. I try and block out all the things that stress me and
look at the beauty that surrounds me. I live in the moment and forget reality
for a bit.
5.
Where do you
get your inspiration?
I get my
inspiration from my “cheerleaders”. The people that have seen me go thru the
struggles I have had with my feet and being able to run again. When they tell
me how strong I am. I am also inspired when they tell me how I have helped
inspire them,
6.
What is the
most difficult thing you had to conquer?
The ups and
downs are hard. Learning how to deal with the setbacks and still motivate
myself to move forward and not give up. There were times when I had worked so
hard and then I would have a huge set back and I would want to quit. But in the
back of my mind I never wanted to be the girl who said “I remember when I used
to…” I wanted to be the girl who was still doing it,
7.
Pass on some
words of wisdom, to those seeking help in situations like this.
Never give up.
Nothing in life working for is ever easy. No one is going to hold you by the
hand and walk you step-by-step, and tell you what you need to do. You need to
do it on your own, somethings will work, some things won’t but you have to
remind yourself everyday of what your goal is, and live each day working
towards reaching that goal. I would wake up each day and say what steps I need
to take today so I can work towards my goal to run again. Not every step you
take will be a big one, count the little victories and have patience which by
the way I don’t have so this was a huge struggle for me. Be open minded, try
things you never thought you would try.
I
am a Runner:
The
Memoirs of a Sepsis Survivorby
Maria Papalia-Meier & Pamela AckersonGenre:
Inspirational Memoir
“You’ll
never be able to run again.”
From
running half marathons to being the sickest person in the hospital,
Maria Papalia-Meier fought the river of death, and won.
Life
changing moments, amputations, and negative thoughts refused to keep
her down. With her rock-hard stubbornness, positive self-empowerment
and persistence, she grabbed hope and unflinching faith to face the
life handed to her. Her story offers an honest, tough-love approach
to defeating pre-determined opinions, and self-imposed limitations.
She refused to give up or give in.
Maria
Papalia-Meier is a runner. She has awoken stronger…better.
This
is her story.
Maria
Papalia-Meier
is a fighter. She may have been KO'd, and down for the count, but she
proved them wrong. I
am a Runner is
about surviving sepsis, a coma, and amputation. Maria has a BBA
with an emphasis in Human Resources, and has worked for Fed-Ex for
twenty years. As an athlete she has many accomplishments. Before her
battle with the river of death she'd competed and ran in multiple
5K’s. She was told she'd never run again. She proved the naysayers
wrong. Her athletic accomplishments include running in a 5K, and a
1/2 Marathon.
Wife,
mother, author, and time traveling adventurer. Born and raised in
Newport, RI where history is a way of life, Pamela
Ackerson
now lives on the Space Coast of Florida, a hop, skip, and jump from
Orlando, where imagination and fantasy abounds. With the love of
reading, she graduated to writing non-fiction, historical fiction,
time travel, and children's preschool/first reader books.
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