A chef completed the Boston Marathon just five months after being hours away from livelihood following a horrific e-scooter accident.
Rachel Foster slid across the finish line on Monday, overjoyed with her remarkable performance, completing the race in a personal best of five hours, 44 minutes and 46 seconds.
It came after the 35-year-old, who co-owns a popular Italian joint in Oklahoma, fell off her e-bike during a night out with her husband in November.
She suffered a traumatic brain injury and fell into a coma that left her in ICU for 10 days. Doctors warned that if she survived, her life would never be the same.
But after vigorous rehabilitation and an unwavering spirit, Foster, who still has a long road to full recovery ahead, beat the odds and ran her tenth marathon this week.
“I feel so blessed and grateful,” she told the Boston sphere. “I feel invincible. I do believe it was a miracle. Wonderful things have happened and are happening every day.’
Rachel Foster, 35, an avid runner and co-owner of a popular Italian restaurant, suffered a traumatic brain injury when she fell off her electric scooter and nearly died when she miraculously beat the odds
Though doctors told Foster and her family that if she made it through her life would never be the same again, Foster seems to prove them wrong. In the photos, she is in rehab learning how to walk again after major brain surgery
Rachel Foster, 35, slid across the finish line alongside her running partner, Tim Altendorf, 66, at Monday’s Boston Marathon, overjoyed at her remarkable performance and running the race in a record time — five hours, 44 minutes, and 46 seconds, and holding on to her medal
Before her accident, Foster, an avid runner, had competed in nine marathons.
Her last was in the spring of 2022 when she competed in the Oklahoma City Marathon.
Foster’s time was so impressive – with a time of 3 hours, 17 minutes and 15 seconds – that she easily qualified for the Boston race.
On the night of the accident, she and her husband John were driving around the neighborhood on their electric scootersand she would have passed out causing her to lose control.
Within seconds, Foster’s head hit the pavement. She was rushed to the hospital and the doctors said she had broken 17 bones and she had nonetraumatic brain injury. She had to have emergency surgery that required doctors to remove half of her skull.
After the operation, she was in a coma for ten days in the intensive care unit of the hospital. Foster showed no signs of brain activity or signs of improvement.
John recalled that the doctors gave the family a stark diagnosis, saying that if she survived, her life would never be the same. A probe, a ventilator and 24/7 care would be required.
That was when the family made the decision to take her life, until a miracle happened and Foster’s eyes opened.
John recalled, ‘we were crazy.’
“It’s impossible to happen, but I wanted it so bad and I hoped it would happen, that when it did I wasn’t surprised. It just felt right,” he said.
Foster has been in a coma in the hospital’s ICU for 10 days and showed no signs of brain activity or signs of improvement before she miraculously opened her eyes
Rachel Foster and her husband John
Foster and her running partner Tim Altendorf hold onto their starting numbers
Once she was able to take commands and breathe on her own, the ventilator was removed, the neurosurgeon, nurses and medical team were absolutely stunned.
Foster’s husband said one of the doctors called it “a miracle.”
He told him in part that “nothing I did and nothing my team did would cause a result like this.”
Foster who had suffered some amnesia and was feeling unwell and confused. After a successful surgery, she began a rigorous rehabilitation program. She was determined to pursue her passion and start running again.
“I felt like no one can take this away from me. All I have to do is put on some shoes and I’m going,” Foster told the news outlet.
One of the doctors at the hospital, who is the director of emergency medicine, used a Star Trek reference to describe Foster’s remarkable recovery, telling the couple: ‘iIf humans were starships, Rachel would travel at warp speed,” the Boston Globe reported.
‘I wanted that so much. Running has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I knew I was in bad shape,” said Foster.
“I knew my body had been through this crazy accident, but I just didn’t know the magnitude of it.”
During her rehabilitation, she would learn to stand, balance, and walk—even the slightest movements would be an enormous effort, but Foster managed to endure the pain.
From late January to late March, Foster continued rehabilitation therapy in an outpatient setting.
Her husband, she said, inspired her to keep going and was her team of encouragement.
‘You are almost there. You’ve got it. Go Go Go. Be strong,” said Foster, he would tell her as she referred to him as “my knight in shining armor.”
That resilience and drive helped Foster run Monday’s 127th Boston Marathon.