Dana Paran winning hearts at Asia CrossFit Championship for overcoming serious setback
- After a nasty fall destroyed her left foot, North Carolina native entered as an adaptive athlete in CrossFit
- Now back to regular competition, she said the goal is to find her best, regardless of how she’s viewed or categorised
One look at American Dana Paran’s left foot, and its clear this is more than an injury for the CrossFit athlete.
Paran, 23, who hails from North Carolina, has multiple plates in her foot and some nasty scars. The Cobra Command CrossFitter sits seventh in the women’s division, but some disciplines prove quite difficult given her physical situation.
“Half my foot is metal, and running is pretty awkward.”
Back in 2017 at her old gym, Black Fly CrossFit (who helped her come to Shanghai), which is in Marquette, Michigan, Paran had a nasty fall from a peg board, missing the landing platform entirely.
“I hit a couple of assault bikes and landed inverted,” said Paran, who competed in weightlifting for Northern Michigan University and Team USA. “I dislocated my heel out, the heel was clean but it shattered my talus [anklebone], so normal flexing is out of the question and I can only wiggle [my foot] a little bit. I can’t invert at all.”
She also noted the injury slows her down at airports.