Scots pole vaulter battles way back from intensive care

[rainbowgirl28]

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=458072006

Scots pole vaulter battles way back with giant leap from intensive care
STUART BATHGATEIN MELBOURNE
Athlete suffers allergic reaction after eating pizza
Kirsty Maguire had attack of anaphylactic shock and required intensive care treatment
Pole vaulter was able to recover and compete in Commonwealth Games
Key quote
"Over the past fortnight, everything that could have gone against me has done. To come through that, come out here with the Scottish tracksuit on and get over the bar is something I'll never forget." - Kirsty Maguire

Story in full
A YOUNG Scottish athlete was able to compete in the Commonwealth Games despite being admitted to intensive care with anaphylactic shock after eating a pizza.


Kirsty Maguire was put on life-support after suffering a severe allergic reaction to food she ate in the Scottish training camp at Bendigo in Australia.

The hurdler Ross Baillie, 21, died in 1999 when he suffered a similar reaction after eating a chicken sandwich containing traces of peanut oil. Earlier this week, his brother Craig broke his Scottish record and went on to win a silver medal in the 110m hurdles.

Yesterday, Maguire, 22, told of her fightback to be able to compete in the Games.

"Over the past fortnight, everything that could have gone against me has done. To come through that, come out here with the Scottish tracksuit on and get over the bar is something I'll never forget," she said.

"I'm proud of that, and when I look back in years to come, I'll consider it a massive achievement," she added.

Her problem began shortly after she arrived in Australia to train with the national team and ate pizza which may have had traces of foods to which she is severely allergic. She was rushed to hospital and was treated in intensive care.

Although she was quickly out of danger, the episode left her unable to train for nine days.

However, she still came agonisingly close to making the final. She cleared 3.6 metres at her first attempt, then 3.8m at the second. Unfortunately, she was eliminated after failing three times at 3.9m and had to watch from the sidelines as, one by one, other vaulters went higher to claim the dozen final slots.

Maguire has had several reactions of similar severity to the one she suffered in Bendigo, and knows that away from home she is always at risk.

She said: "There was nothing that could have been done, because the preparations were good, everyone was aware of the allergy and they did everything they could to prevent it. "I've had four or five severe reactions and some minor ones. The one before this was probably in 2004, when I came out a week later and jumped 3.9m. That made me think I could perform, because I hoped things would be pretty much back to normal. The one in Bendigo was certainly as severe as anything I'd suffered before.

"At home, you only eat things you know are safe. When you are away from home in a foreign country, it is more difficult.

"We think it was a pizza, but there was nothing actually in the pizza that should have caused the problem," she went on.

"I'm sensitive to traces; it just has to be the tiniest amount. It can be caused by something that someone has touched."

Although the problem, which affects one in 100,000 people, impacts on every area of her life, Maguire sees no reason to give up athletics. At present, she plans to be still competing when the next Commonwealth Games come around in 2010.

In the end she came 13th in the pole-vault qualifying round at the Melbourne Cricket Ground - one spot below qualification for the final.

The result was a disappointment that reduced her to tears, but the tenacity that drove her from a hospital bed into the stadium was worthy of any gold- medal winner.

"It is disappointing to know that, had I been fit, the final would have been within my grasp," she said. "I need to be glad that I managed to get out there and jump."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/03/24/1486385.htm

Pole Vault: SCOTALND THE BRAVEST
(Daily Record Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)

NOBODY hung a medal around Kirsty Maguire's neck last night but they should have.

The young Scottish pole vaulter walked out in front of 80,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and hurled herself over a bar that stood 3.80metres high.

That was good enough only for 13th place in a competition which rewards the top 12 with a place in the final but that close call wasn't the reason for Maguire's tears as she left this packed arena.

The 22-year-old's mind was tumbling with all sorts of emotions as the enormity of what she had achieved finally hit her like a 10-ton truck.

Two weeks ago Maguire was hooked up to a life-support machine in Australia after suffering an anaphylatic shock after eating a pizza which triggered an allergic reaction that could have killed her.

The reaction was the same type which claimed the life of young Scottish hurdler Ross Baillie, whose brother Chris won a silver medal here on Tuesday, back in 1999.

Edinburgh girl Maguire was rushed from her training camp at Bendigo, 140km outside Melbourne, to hospital where immediate treatment for the condition that has plagued her intermittently over the years saved her life.

Kirsty spent four days in hospital recovering but her determination not to miss her first Commonwealth Games didn't waver for a second.

And last night she made it to record what might actually be the biggest tartan triumph of an astonishingly successful Games for Scotland.

She broke down at the end of her competition and was comforted by athletics' team manager Leslie Roy.

But after composing herself the only Scottish pole vaulter to have cleared four metres spoke about her ordeal.

She said: "Over the last fortnight, everything that could have gone against me has done.

"To come through it, come out here with the Scottish tracksuit on and get over the bar, is something I'll never forget.

"I'm proud of that and, when I come to look back in years to come, I'll consider it a massive achievement."

Speaking publicly for the first time about the day she suffered the shock, Kirsty added: "It was always something that might happen, even though every - thing had been put in place to ensure that it didn't happen. There was really nothing that could have been done, because the preparations were good, everyone was aware of the allergy and they did everything they could to prevent it.



"I 've had four or five severe reactions and some minor ones on top of that. The last one before this was probably in 2004, when I came out a week later and jumped 3.90.

"That made me think I could perform because I hoped things would be pretty much back to normal.

"The one in Bendigo was certainly as severe as anything I'd suffered before. But I never thought I wouldn't make it here - I was always going to compete in these Games.

"It's pretty frightening when it happens. It's not something I enjoy going through, put it that way."

Kirsty's friend and team-mate, Gillian Cooke, was with her when she reacted badly to eating a slice of pizza.

She believes the presence of her pal was a lucky break and added: "Gillian used to share a flat with me so she was there when I had my very first severe reaction.

"She was sat next to me at the table in Bendigo when it happened and, though there was medical back-up there, she was the first on hand to help me.

"The Scottish team was tremendous and the staff at the hospital in Bendigo were fantastic as well.

"I was in hospital for four days and, for three or four days after that, I did almost nothing. I was back to training within 10 days and things were looking good.

"I was happy with the way training had gone and I was quite positive that I would jump well."

Maguire is determined not to let her condition ruin her life and said:

"I don't think you can live worrying about every mouthful.

"Yeah, it's a worry and you have to be careful but you can't live your life like that. I live a normal life.

"My dad flew out the week after it happened and my mum came after that. I think they were relieved to find me in one piece.

"My mum has been ferrying food to me from the supermarket and my dad has been preparing everything.

"I think my mum was just pleased I was here."

She might not have a medal but when Kirsty Maguire boards the flight home to Edinburgh she will have the admiration of each and every one of her team-mates

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http://sport.scotsman.com/athletics.cfm?id=304482007

Kirsty in pole position after record effort
SANDY SUTHERLAND
KIRSTY MAGUIRE broke her own Scottish national pole vault record for the third time this winter when she cleared 4.15 metres to win the Scottish Universities Indoor title at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow.

The 23-year-old Edinburgh Southern Harrier, who is a final year medical student at Glasgow University and is coached by her father Kevin, added five centimetres to her previous best, set only last month, and has now raised the record by 14cm compared to the mark she set back in 2004.


Sadly this is still not high enough to qualify for the European Indoor Championships in Birmingham this weekend, but two of Kirsty's Commonwealth Games team-mates were expected to be added to the British team today for the Championships which begin on Friday at the National Indoor Arena.