SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio teen continues to surpass her goals of regaining control of her life again after complications during thyroid surgery in the summer of 2017 left her unable to walk.
Morgan Coultress, 19, walked a few steps for her prom date, then walked the stage at her graduation. Now, Coultress can run.
KSAT shared her story in the summer, and now six months later we caught up with her after she finished therapy to see how she is doing.
“I knew I had to start doing things on my own," Coultress said. "I wasn’t being pushed to go to therapy anymore and so I really had to take into my hands to push myself and do my exercises."
It hasn’t been easy, but her faith and her family have motivated her not to give up on her full recovery.
Coultress reflected on how much progress she had made since one of her first milestones: walking the stage at graduation.
“When I walked that stage, I felt like I was flying, like I was running on that stage,” she said. “It felt so, so great and it’s the best feeling I’ve had in a long, long time.”
Slowly, she gave up her crutches and transitioned to a cane, then finally, to walking on her own. Now, she's able to run on the treadmill without holding on to the bars.
“Mentally, it helps me realize, 'Oh, wow, I can do it again,'" she said. “It’s been a year and a half since it happened. I was so in love with running. I loved being active.”
Coultress recently finished her first year of college and aspires to become an elementary school teacher.
She said she still has a long road to recovery ahead of her, but isn't giving up on setting goals.
“I’m at 90 percent right now, so I really want to work to be that 110 percent again,” she said.
Her next goals are to be able to get permission from her doctor to drive and to be able to run out in the open on a track by next summer.
“You learn that you just have to do it. You have to live life. You can’t be scared, you have to go for it with all your might and just hope it works out, and if it doesn’t, that’s OK, too,” Coultress said.
She said she feels blessed to be where she is today.
“I can wake up and it can be gone again so I’m grateful that this was my path (Jesus’) chosen for me,” she said.
Her strength has also inspired her own mother, who was battling cancer last summer but is now in remission.