Lauren Parker overcomes burns, threat of amputation to win world 70.3 triathlon crown

Nine days after being told she might have to have five toes amputated due to shocking burns, this tough-nut athlete has won a world crown. Her unbelievable story - and what’s next.

The world saw her grit and determination when she was pipped for gold at the Paralympics in Tokyo. But Lauren Parker has lifted her game to a new level en route to winning a world title in the US.

Parker has come back from her agonising loss in the para triathlon in Tokyo to win a world crown at the 70.3 triathlon championships in Utah, defying the odds, third degree burns on her feet, a violent hailstorm and extraordinary nerve pain.

Newcastle triathlete Lauren Parker at the world 70.3 ironman championships in Utah.

She achieved her feat just days after doctors told her she might need to have five of her badly burned toes amputated and she and her coach were involved in a car accident in a separate setback.

With bandaged feet and two nurses helping her after each leg, the Newcastle triathlete overcame incredible odds to win her first half Ironman and 70.3 world crown.

She achieved the feat after being out on the course for nearly eight hours and in agony after she accidentally put her feet on a red hot car window and burnt the nerve ends on her toes, initially causing doctors to tell her she might have to have five toes amputated.

Not surprisingly, Parkinson has described the torrid race as the hardest thing she has ever done.

Newcastle triathlete Lauren Parker on her hand cycle in the 90km cycle leg.

“I’m sore. It was the hardest race, the hardest course that I have ever come across,’’ said Parker, who hit was involved in a car accident a

“I’ve raced kind of twice and it was harder than that, the hills on the wrong course. I was going at 3 km an hour up those hills, stopping every so often.

“I’m happy to finish the race. I knew it would be tough and I’m just so happy to have done it.”

Parker said she was assisted during the race by nurses she met while in hospital in the lead-up to the 70.1 world titles which involves a 1.9lm swim, 90km cycle and 21km run leg. Parker does the second and third legs on a hand cycle and in a wheelchair

At the end of each leg the nurses dressed her wounds to ensure the burns were properly covered and to help prevent infection..

They then presented her with her medal at the end of the race.

Coach Brad Fearnley helping parker at the start of the 1.9km swim leg. Pic: Donald Miralle/IRONMAN)

“It’s a great achievement, I feel proud to have been able to finish the race today, I didn’t think at the end of the first lap of the run that I’d be able to, and I just kept on going, I kept on telling myself to keep going and get that big ice cream, and it’s a huge achievement,” said Parker. “I had an amazing team supporting me so I knew I had to finish and I couldn’t be more happy to have finished.

“I hope that today I was able to inspire people to get out there and get involved in the sport, to show them what they can do,” she said.

Lauren Parker (L) crosses the finish line for the silver medal behind a late-surging Kendall Gretsch of the US.

Prior to the race Parker explained to NewsLocal the extraordinary pain she is in on a daily basis since hitting a guard rail head first when her tyre burst while training on her bike in 2017, resulting in a punctured lung, broken shoulder blade, pelvis and ribs and damage to her spinal-cord.

“I have a lot of neuropathic pain, every second of every day I feel like I’m being stabbed by needles. It’s torturous. I scream in pain at night,’’ Parker said.

“It’s like I’m being stabbed from my chest to my feet. It’s like I’m being cut up by a chainsaw.

“When I lower myself into water I feel like I am being cut open by a knife.

“Sitting talking to you I feel like I am burning. It’s torture. It’s like being on fire. It’s worse at night.”

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