KEY POINTS:
Seventeen months after being struck by a car on a training ride, Auckland triathlete Anna Hamilton has defied the odds.
The 21-year-old was lucky to survive the horrendous August 2007 smash that left her with severe neck, spine, knee and shoulder injuries and needing an upper-body brace for three months.
Now she is back - not quite to where she was as a World Championship-bound triathlete, but at least rubbing shoulders with the best in swimming, cycling and running.
She had her second - "hardly competitive" as she insists - outing in the Contact Tri-Series race in Whangamata yesterday. The result was a top 20 finish but making the finish line was all that mattered.
Her parents, Katy and Doug, brother James and coach Chris Pilone never said never, but still had secret doubts.
"Chris was there from the start," said Hamilton. "I asked him to write me a programme, but he hesitated. It was not until February he agreed.
"He wanted to make sure I was okay. He understood what I was going through."
Hamilton tentatively climbed on to her wind-trainer and, exactly three months after the crash, shed the brace and embarked on her first training jog.
They were the first steps in "getting my life and body back together". Her weight, which had dropped to 42kg, was up to 48kg and is now close to her "racing best" of 52kg.
She was soon back on a new road bike accompanied by her father.
She initially restricted her rides to the safety of a circuit around North Harbour Stadium, before venturing on to the roads.
But she has yet to ride past "that spot" where she almost died.
"I have driven past it, but it had to be pointed out to me as I had no recollection of where it happened," she said.
Hamilton set herself "little goals", trying to get the best she could out of small training sessions.
"My body has been through so much trauma I have to enjoy whatever I can do. I take it day-by-day not setting any goals, as such."
By November - a year after shedding her wretched brace - Hamilton was ready to pitch herself back into action, lining up in a testing Olympic-distance triathlon in Rotorua.
With an "oh my God" doubt, she dived into the chilly Blue Lake. Even now, after ending the cycle leg "with no energy", and having serious doubts about her ability to reach the finish, Hamilton has no idea where she finished but takes pride in being able to get through the 10km run without walking.
That same grit has enabled her to return to her studies and complete some second-year papers in her Bachelor of Science degree.
She looks forward to more of the same this year.
Some things have changed, however. When she walked up to the security check at Auckland airport en route to Wanaka to watch her snow-boarding brother compete, she set the alarm bells ringing.
"That [having screws and rods in my neck, back and shoulders] is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life," Hamilton admits.
But at least she has a life to look forward to. Seventeen months ago there were doubts about that.
"I don't think about it [the accident]. I don't remember anything. I'm as cautious as anyone out there but I'm as competitive as ever. No one wanted to tell me I wouldn't compete again."
The driver in the crash later pleaded guilty and paid her compensation.
