FEATURE
3 MINS 28 SECONDS
Rolling with the roving COW
Grit, goggles, and a guide dog named Ginty
Sometimes life gives you lemons. And sometimes it throws the whole orchard at you. But if you’ re anything like Kathleen Amelia Flanagan and Veronica Warmington, you don’ t just make lemonade: you throw in some electrolytes, lace up your running shoes, and win yourself a national title.
I
had the joy of chatting with these two powerhouse women recently— me, Richard Laskey, the Roving COW( don’ t ask, just roll with it)— and let me tell you, if spirit had a soundtrack, theirs would be an 80s training montage on repeat.
Kathleen was born with retinitis pigmentosa( RP), a condition that slowly narrows the field of vision. In layman’ s terms, it is like having permanent tunnel vision. But did that stop her from living a“ normal” life? Not even close. She attended mainstream school and, wait for it … she even got her driver’ s license! I don’ t know about you, but I still sometimes miss an offramp with both eyes functioning.
Though not interested in sports at school, Kathleen later joined a running club and discovered it was something she really enjoyed. What started as a few casual trail runs and sprint triathlons“ for fun”( you know, the kind of fun where your lungs are on fire) soon turned into a full-blown love affair with training. She was getting fitter, stronger, and thriving on the camaraderie— plus, let’ s be honest, there’ s something addictive about wearing a race bib and pretending you enjoy hills.“ Honestly, I was loving it,” she laughs.“ Next thing I knew, I was planning a sprint triathlon … then a half … and suddenly, I’ m thinking,‘ Hmm, maybe a Full Ironman?’ Like, who even am I?”
But in 2017, after having her cataracts removed, the doctors discovered Kathleen had developed macular edema. This condition causes swelling in the macula, the central part of the retina, due to fluid buildup that can cause blurred or distorted vision, especially when looking at finer details. Added onto this devastating diagnosis, Kathleen was told two months later she had secondary glaucoma, which damaged her optic nerve. As a result she lost much of her treasured independence.
By the end of 2018 she had to hang up her car keys and lean on others for support in unfamiliar spaces. Giving up her driver’ s licence wasn’ t just about ditching the car keys; it was like losing a part of her identity.“ It was devastating,” Kathleen says, still visibly emotional at the memory.“ I had lost my independence, was completely reliant on people... even just going to the mall to buy a friend a birthday present became a project involving military-level planning and guilt-tripping someone into coming with me.”
Thanks to medical intervention, she has maintained some of her vision.
8 ISSUE 178 | www. modernathlete. co. za