'Dream come true': Paralyzed woman from Cape Coral to compete in Boston Marathon

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WINK) — A Cape Coral woman is gearing up to compete at the Boston Marathon, but she won't be running on her feet.

Denise Everett will take off from the starting line Monday morning in a hand cycle.

"Boston Marathon, and it's a challenge, but it's also something fun," Everett said. "It's a dream come true. It's something I always wanted to do. And I can't believe I'm actually realizing the dream, as, you know, as a quadriplegic."

Everett has been training hard for this moment.

"Every other day, at least, I was out there for 26 miles riding up and down these streets training," she said. "That's like 50 times, going up and down these roads."

Racing has been part of Everett's life for decades. She's biked, ran and done triathlons while raising her kids and working as an attorney.

But everything changed in 2018.

"Right around age 56 I'm on a stupid scooter and I get hit by a car, and that put me in the wheelchair," Everett said.

She said she was airlifted to a trauma center at the University of Louisville.

"I died twice on the helicopter," she said. "But, you know, I lived through it and when I got out, I felt like there's got to be some way I can still compete."

That's when Everett discovered hand cycles from Rolling in Paradise, a local disabled-owned and operated business.

"The first time I got one, I knew I was going to do it because I could feel the wind in my face again," she said. "I felt like I was going fast again. It was just, it was the same feeling. But, you know, in the adapted mode."

Everett said her loved ones keep her motivated.

"My family, my grandson Isaac and, you know, just my kids and my neighbors," she said. "Just the people that I love and who love me keep me going."

Now she hopes to inspire others facing similar challenges to never give up on their dreams.

"You can do anything, anything you did before, it'll be adapted for you, like the hand cycle instead of running on two legs," she said. "But, but it's out there. Just go for it."