On Monday, April 17, 2023, Rachel Foster, head chef and owner of Moni’s Pasta and Pizza in Edmond, Oklahoma, completed the 127th Boston Marathon. While this may not seem like a unique accomplishment at first glance, Rachel’s journey to the finish line is nothing short of remarkable.
In November 2022, Rachel fell off an electric scooter while out riding with her husband, John Foster, and suffered a severe brain injury. She was in a coma for over a week in an Oklahoma hospital before waking up just one day before being removed from life support.
An Unexpected Miracle
According to reports, John had found her unresponsive after she fell off her scooter and had called 911. Doctors quickly realized that Rachel had suffered serious head trauma and told John that her injury was a “severely catastrophic brain injury”. This was the worst type of brain injury where there’s not really a chance of coming back. For 10 days, Rachel was not breathing on her own and was kept on life support. During this period, John and his family were faced with the difficult decision of whether to keep Rachel on life support or pull the plug and fulfill her wishes of being an organ donor.
I felt in my spirit that it was done and I didn’t know what that meant,” said John. “I didn’t know if that meant she was healed. I didn’t know if that meant it was time to release her.
However, on November 19, one day before Rachel would be removed from life support, the unthinkable happened – Rachel woke up. Since then, she has been on the long and difficult road to recovery. After undergoing surgery at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta and months of rehabilitation and training, Rachel qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2022.
Never Give Up!
For Rachel, running has always been a passion and a way to cope with stress. “It’s a stress relief for me and it helps me just kind of work through things in my own head,” she told reporters. Despite the severity of her injuries and the long road to recovery, Rachel refused to let her near-death experience keep her from what she loves.
On race day, Rachel crossed the finish line with a time of 5:44:46. Regardless of her time, it is clear that Rachel Foster is a winner of epic proportions. Her journey to the Boston Marathon proves the power of perseverance and the resilience of the human spirit.
For Rachel’s family, the only explanation for her recovery was that it was a “bona fide miracle.” While Rachel’s journey to the Boston Marathon may have been filled with obstacles, she faced them all with strength, determination, and the support of her loved ones.
