Tracy Schmitt is a motivational speaker, best selling author and decorated athlete from Toronto. She was born a quadruple amputee, with both legs above the knee and one arm above the elbow. Her speaking engagements with Unstoppable Tracy take her all over the world. This is her God Shot.

I remember being in a parking lot after a job I loved had ended. My workplace had become like a second family to me and I was sad. On top of that, my fiancé had recently broken up with me via a Dear John letter. He completely blindsided me and left in the middle of the night. It all felt so overwhelming, losing my job, my partner, and grieving my dad who had passed shortly before that. I knew that I had the right to be sad, but I’m a believer on what you focus on grows. So, in an effort not to attract more sad things, I decided to focus on what would make me happy. The first thing to pop into my head was sailing.

I was born a four way amputee, so no hands and no legs, but it’s true that I absolutely, positively love sailing. It was October in Toronto, Canada and there wasn’t anything going on in the sailing world there. Luckily for me, there was an international sailing regatta for people with disabilities about to happen in San Diego. With my job having ended, I had the time and decided to sign up just for fun.

Up to that point, I had never competitively raced, nor had I ever been a part of a national competition. My experience was limited, but I certainly had a natural aptitude for it and loved it. So, I went to San Diego with no expectations. My only goal was to enjoy the experience, and yet, on my very first race I got a bullet. In sailing a bullet means first place. I won. It would make for a great story, I thought.

On the flight back to Toronto, a hurricane hit while in midair. The turbulence was powerful and the general consensus of the passengers was that we were all going to die. I will never forget looking over at the tall gentleman next to me, as he got thrown across the aisle. This was it I thought. There was no beating Mother Nature. In my despair and utter panic, I blurted out, “God, if I live, I want to pursue my Paralympic dreams.” Then as if on divine cue, the flight went perfectly still. The turbulence was gone, never to return and we had a seamless landing. I know some will say that what happened is the very definition of a coincidence, but not me. That was my God Shot and I had a promise to keep.

I was so confident this was a sign not to be ignored, that when I got off that plane, I started phoning people in the sailing world from the parking lot in the airport. The responses to my resolve to follow my dream went pretty much like this, “We’re excited that you’re passionate, and we’re glad that you landed safely, but you can’t just become a Paralympian. You’d need money, a boat, a coach and at least 10,000 hours of training with people that have been doing nothing else for the past 12 years. You couldn’t even qualify for the Paralympic trials, Tracy, there’s no way.”

Since I should have died in a plane crash, nothing felt impossible, so I asked the only question that I needed a definitive answer on. I asked, “If I waved a magic wand, what would it take?” The answer was Magnus Liljedahl, the only gold Olympian in all of North America who lived in the most Southern part of Miami, Florida, far away from Toronto. It was kindly pointed out to me that even if I came into a ton of money, there’s no reason Magnus Liljedahl, or any respected coach, would invest in a nobody.

Undeterred, I focused on that indescribable feeling that came over me when the plane went still and I knew with certainty that I had to go to Miami. I had to go to Magnus. So, I sold everything I owned and said goodbye to my family and friends. Some cried, some yelled and many were just plain angry. What was I doing, they all wanted to know? I had no arms, no legs, and I was about to get in my car, by myself and leave everything behind. They couldn’t understand, but I knew. I just did.

From the beginning of my trek to Miami, I was being looked after. One of my mother’s burning questions before I left was a logistical one. How was I going to fill my gas tank? My legs are off when I’m driving, so I knew I would have to jump out of my car seat, bum shuffle to the back of the gas tank and figure something out. Frankly, I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I knew it would get done. Sure enough, every time I got to my gas tank at the back of my car, somebody approached. Every single time. Five days of driving and I never once had to fill the tank myself. Somebody was always there to support me and fill me up, literally and figuratively.

I made it to Miami with my dream and determination in tact. My first stop was the boatyard where Magnus had his trailer for his sports club, but he wasn’t there. It was getting late and the neighborhood was a rough one. Money was tight. I had spent most of it getting down there. I was out of a job and any money I had in my savings I left to cover the rent for the next 11 months. The boatyard I found myself in had a big fence with a secured gate, so people couldn’t go in and out. I hid my car between two big boats and nobody knew I was there, yet it was exactly where I needed to be.

The sun wakes you up when you sleep in your car. It was 5:30 in the morning and the very first thing I see is Magnus washing a boat just a few feet in front of me. I jump out and run over to him excited for our first moment together. I unloaded at breakneck speed, “Magnus, Magnus, I’m Tracy, from Toronto. I want to pursue my Paralympic dream. I’m so sorry that I emailed, phoned, Facebooked and Tweeted you. I know you’re busy, so I decided to just move down here because that’s how dedicated I am to making this happen, and I just knew that when we met you’d understand!”

He just looks at me in his serious Viking-like way and continues to methodically wash his boat.  He’s well over six foot tall with massive muscles. After a really long pause chock full of awkward silence, he simply smiles at me and says, “That’s nice.” And goes back to washing his boat.

Clearly, I was not speaking to Magnus in a way he could understand. I wasn’t in his “world” so to speak, and I certainly wasn’t addressing his concerns or needs. So, I picked up a sponge, which was his world in that second and I started washing the boat with him. I ended up washing, cleaning and fixing Magnus’ boats and running his errands for three months. I lived out of my car, hiding in Magnus’ boat yard without him ever knowing. Then one day he finally said, “Come on, let’s go sailing.”

With his unparalleled coaching and guidance, I ended up in the Paralympic trials in January 2012 for London and January 2016 for Rio. I also competed in World Cup regattas, sailing against able bodied men. In December 2015 for the Olympic and the Paralympic qualifiers, I sailed against 30 other boats in Melbourne, Australia. All 30 of those competitors came from all over the world. Of those sailors, 27 were men and only three were women. All had their hands and their feet.

I didn’t make it to London or to Rio. I didn’t get selected to represent Canada for the Olympics or the Paralympics. I did have a few magical races where I beat the guy that was favored to win and boy, was that a thrill! However, what I did end up doing was starting a Paralympic sports club with Magnus. We ended up touching and supporting and helping every Olympic and Paralympic boat. Every boat that went to London and to Rio, Olympic or Paralympic, Magnus and I touched their boat. I ended up being a conduit for Magnus to reach and serve others. I helped him secure funding for his Paralympic sports club status. Funny how my dream had always been bigger than me.

At the time, I didn’t know why my fiancé left, or why I lost my job. I thought that my plane not crashing and my calling out to God was about me becoming a Paralympian. But, sailing was only a part of my story. Sailing allowed me to discover an even bigger purpose. Living out of my car for three months, taught me diligence and persistence on a whole new level. It earned me Magnus’ trust, and with his trust, together, we were able to make a difference. That’s something greater than both of us.

I was born exactly the way God had intended and I believe that everything happens exactly as it should. It’s not always easy, but if I take a moment and reflect on my road to my Paralympics dreams, I can see that the timing was always perfect even though I couldn’t always see it. Every step of the way, God was there watching over me. He was there by land, by sea and especially by air.

                                    It’s not just sailing for Tracy.  Here she is skiing.

                                                             A motivational speaker, here                                                             Tracy prepares to go on stage.

Giving her TedX talk.

To learn more about Tracy and her incredible body of work, check her out at: https://unstoppabletracy.com