Amy Purdy: I'm looking for a healthy Miss America
Paralympian speaks out about judging duties for Miss America competition
Paralympian Amy Purdy suffered a recent health scare while training for the upcoming snowboarding season and is now urging others to “listen to your body.” The “Dancing With the Stars” alum has been hospitalized for almost a week as she deals with Rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening syndrome that causes breakdown of muscle tissue and jeopardizes kidney health.
“Hey Friends! I’d like to fill you in on the last few days of my life,” the 36-year-old wrote in a Thursday Instagram post featuring a photo of her arm and IV drip. “I am going on day 4 in the hospital after developing a very serious condition called Rhabdomyolysis. You should google it and read about it, its crazy. It basically can occur when you overwork a muscle group and the muscle begins to breakdown into your blood stream. It can severely damage kidneys pretty quickly and as most of you know I have a kidney transplant which was a big concern.”
Purdy said she pushed herself too hard during training last week while completing a set of pull-ups. She added that while her muscles were sore after the session, she only began to worry when she noticed swelling in her arm. In the Instagram post she explained a friend had been hospitalized for Rhabdomyolysis last year, so she recognized the symptoms in herself and went to the hospital.
“It’s been a very intense week hooked up to machines supporting my kidney through this process,” she wrote on Instagram. “It’s so crazy to be so healthy and to think you are doing good for your body, then to suddenly have a life threatening condition occur. As scary and serious as this has been, I have been very blessed that my kidney has stayed strong.”
She further encouraged her followers to listen to their body.
“When it is telling you to stop… Stop!” she wrote.
As of Friday morning, Purdy’s post had garnered more than 7,500 likes. She added a follow-up post, in which she thanked supporters for their well-wishes.
“I almost didn’t come to the hospital when I did because my symptoms were so mild, had I of decided to sleep it off I most likely would have had major kidney failure or even gone into shock by the next morning,” she wrote. "Intuition, knowing my body and knowledge about this condition saved my kidney and my life.”
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