When love helps conquer tougher days
Molly Weikart (l.) and Shelby Estocado have each helped one another overcome personal battles, while falling in love during a tough 2020. (Photo courtesy: Shelby Estocado)
LAS VEGAS — For Shelby Estocado, there are good days and tough days.
But despite no use of her legs, she insists there are never any bad days.
It's a credo the world-class athlete lives by, while overcoming the adversity of rolling through life in a wheelchair after a snowboarding accident. She suffered a broken sternum and a T6 spinal cord injury that paralyzed her from the abdomen down.
Her other motto - "Try hard at everything that you do" - isn't anything new.
She's been doing that since her preteen years, persevering every time.
She refused to play softball before becoming a local star at Bishop Gorman High School, insisting to her parents she belonged on a Little League field.
She did.
Once she arrived at Gorman, the stage was set, and she never let up with an offensive game that left opposing pitchers with a stiff neck.
She moved on to Tulsa, where she earned all-conference honors.
She is a two-time Women’s National Baseball Team alum who traveled around the world representing the United States, reviving her skills from Lone Mountain Little League in Northwest Las Vegas.
Now, she is in for the battle of her life and to be quite honest, for anyone who knows Shelby, the wheelchair doesn't stand a chance.
ONE LAST RUN
On Feb. 23, Estocado and her friends put in a full day of snowboarding, and as per usual the laughter and good times accompanied the trip.
The sun was about to dip, the air was crisp, but the powder was nice.
Why not one more trip up the mountain at Lee Canyon for one last run.
"I was snowboarding like I do, and it happened so fast," Estocado said.
Attempting a jump, Estocado landed badly and knew immediately her injury was serious. She couldn't breathe, her lungs filled with blood, and it took three ski patrols to figure out just how urgent her condition was and quickly they needed to act.
She was flown immediately to UMC and underwent several surgeries.
“I woke up crying," Estocado said. "You wake up from surgery and soak it all in again, you cry more.”
Eventually she was flown to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado - renowned for its spinal cord rehabilitation work - and began her process from a complete injury. When she left, it was an incomplete injury because she had gained sensation back and there was fluid coming through her spinal cord.
Back in Las Vegas, the mental health also needed some healing.
“In the beginning it was frustrating," Estocado admitted. "I cried, I didn't want to practice dressing myself, I didn't think I could ever do it. It takes time throughout my day, but over time you just learn these are the things you have to do. It's part of your routine, you get used to it.”
Fast forward to today, she can feel soft touches across her legs, can feel the pressure she puts on her feet, and there's some stimulation in her core. Stem cell treatment has also helped.
But for the athlete in her, the things she gleams most about is the fact she is lifting heavier weight at Iron Talon CrossFit, where she trained and competed prior to her accident.
BEAST MODE
Mark Reddon coaches Shelby Estocado during a morning CrossFit class at Iron Talon CrossFit. (Photo: W.G. Ramirez)
Mark Reddon, owner of Iron Talon CrossFit, knows all too well how competitive Estocado is, after partnering with her at several competitions. But when Estocado met with Reddon's wife, Jolynn, he admitted he was a bit surprised to hear she wanted to return to Iron Talon after returning from Craig Hospital.
“Then actually, you know, not really, knowing her and the way her mindset is - I'm not that surprised that she's back in here," Reddon said. "A lot of people wouldn't do that; a lot of people would just give up. I thought she'd come back in a little more timid, but she came back in ready to go full out.”
Well, except on squat day, he added with a smile.
Since her return, Reddon said it's Estocado's positive outlook and powerful mindset that has given her an edge and helped since her accident. No negativity, never dragging, and always with a great attitude just happy to be there.
“Anybody who walks through that door with a smile on their face is who you want in the gym," Reddon said. "She's always been a phenomenal athlete. It's more so her will. Her will to compete and keep going when she's completely exhausted is her strong point.”
It's the type of mindset that keeps her driving, and others motivated.
“She's still a beast," said Iron Talon member Sam Curby. "She's in here killing it with us, doing the workout. It's very inspiring. Watching her come in, I think everybody that's in here, they workout harder because they see her trying to keep up with everybody. It's awesome.”
Iron Talon coach Kendall Brosnahan said when one of her athletes told her he ruptured his Achilles tendon and needed to take a break, she used Estocado as an example for inspiration to keep him coming back for upper body workouts, and could sit him on a box and make modified workouts until he could train on his feet again.
“Her energy is infectious," Brosnahan said. "It makes you want to work harder and have that drive and just to keep moving on no matter what (the) obstacle. Her drive to get in here every day, modified, skill workouts and still give 110% is great. It rolls into daily life of not giving up and pushing and striving.”
Which is how Estocado had to deal with another part of her life, never giving up on love and hoping she could find the woman of her dreams.
BUMBLE BAE
Molly Weikart lived in secrecy as a bisexual for years. She's always been comfortable with her sexuality, as most of her closest friends knew. It was coming out to her family that caused her to suffer from anxiety attacks while living in Arizona.
She knew one day she would have to come out, but it wasn't going to be during any general conversation at family dinner. She wanted to wait for the right person to come into her life. A soulmate she could introduce as 'her person.'
As much as Estocado needed to be reminded she could still find love in a wheelchair, Weikart needed to find love and confirm coming out to her family about her preference was no handicap.
It's a match the dating app Bumble would be proud to promote one day.
After Estocado's friends encouraged her to download the app, the two met in July.
Estocado drove to Arizona to meet Weikart for a weekend stay and ended up staying for a week. She came home for her brother's birthday before catching a flight back to Arizona less than 24 hours later to spend more time getting to know Weikart.
As they got closer, she told Weikart all that was entailed with her daily regimen. It didn't faze Weikart one bit, telling Estocado 'if this is going to last forever, you should just stay at my place. I'm going to have to get used to it.'
“When I met Shelby, I realized this is it," Weikart said. "Being with her, she makes me sure of myself, she makes me sure of my actions. I can see us having a great future, it doesn't matter she's in a wheelchair.”
Weikart recently moved to Las Vegas and the two have a beautifully decorated and cozy home, where they've become each other's support system, both mentally and physically.
“We're both learning off each other what it means to be with someone of a different disability," Weikart said. "I needed that support in that part of my life with my sexuality. She gave me that. I wasn't scared to be with her or for my family to see that I was with her.”
On Oct. 11, which was National Coming Out Day, Weikart's Instagram post said, "For the first time in forever I feel the most authentic me I can be," and by finding one another, it's become much easier for the couple to focus on their future.
GOALS
Molly Weikart (r.), with Shelby Estocado: “We're both learning off each other what it means to be with someone of a different disability.” (Photo courtesy: Shelby Estocado)
For Weikart, her biggest goal is complete, and with the help of Estocado knows she can conquer the occasional bout with anxiety and depression.
“No one understands about mental health unless you deal with it, having depression and those horrible anxiety attacks," Weikart said. "It gets better each day. It's way better than it was.”
For Estocado, her biggest goal is being able to walk again. It took roughly five months for her to function independently, substantial progress that has gotten her to where she is roughly nine months after the accident. She drives on her own, can travel on a plane independently, is living with Weikart - fantastic strides she never thought she'd be able to make.
She continues to set new goals daily, each one having to do with learning things that won't require assistance.
Estocado has gone mountain biking and camped once. She plans on going skiing this winter.
She meets with her High Fives Foundation group weekly and is going back to Craig Hospital for more rehabilitation work in January. Estocado eventually wants to do four sets of five pull ups in a sports chair, wants to surf, play wheelchair basketball, and possibly compete in the Paralympics.
With Weikart by her side, plus the support of her family, Estocado is convinced she will achieve them all.
“Nobody has ever taken care of me like my mom has, and she is more than that," Estocado said. "I never thought anyone would want me as much as she does. She doesn't see me in a wheelchair. I never have been this in love, or somebody's cared about me this much. It just makes life a lot happier and easier.”
Knowing Shelby, the wheelchair doesn't stand a chance.
