After Tragedy, Athlete Couple Regain Hope Through Ironman Triathlon Race

When Lawrence Fong suffered an extreme head injury, only his wife Beth's support got him through. Now, his support has helped her to complete the Ironman Triathlon.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on March 02 2010

Ironman logo. From Wikipedia Creative Commons.

In 2007, Beth Kallok joined a Los Angeles area triathlon group for fun. Although she’d always been athletic, she soon realized it was more extreme than she’d expected: she’d been accustomed to staying out late at bars, but that was definitely not part of the training regime. And her coach, Lawrence Fong, let her know that such behavior wouldn’t be tolerated.

At first, Beth thought Lawrence was a pain. But before long, she grew to understand his rigorous training techniques, and started taking the practice seriously.

She realized there was a lot more to Lawrence than she’d initially realized, too: they began dating, and when Beth crossed the finish line of her first triathlon, Lawrence proposed. Despite her exhaustion from completing the 141-mile race, Beth was happier than she’d ever been in her life.

After the young couple got married in April 2007, they’d planned to compete in the Iron Man Triathlon in Hawaii together that fall. But life had other plans.

Two weeks before the race, Beth received a phone call from a friend. Her new husband had been at a restaurant when he’d collapsed on the floor and hit his head in the bathroom. He was bleeding profusely, and had been rushed to the hospital.

When Beth arrived, the situation was even worse than she’d expected. Although he was conscious, Lawrence didn’t recognize his own wife.

Soon, the doctors realized that Lawrence had a blood clot against his brain stem that would need to be removed. After the surgery was performed, Lawrence slipped into a coma. A doctor told Beth that Lawrence was brain-dead, and that she should think about removing his life support system.

But Beth didn’t believe the doctor. “I was scared, but deep down I always knew that this was not how our story would end,” she told the Los Angeles Times.

Beth visited Lawrence every day in the hospital, talking to him even though he wasn’t able to respond. She believed that he could hear her—and on Christmas Eve, she discovered that she had been right all along. When she asked him if he was cold, he nodded at her. She repeated the question; he nodded again.

In the two years since then, Lawrence’s progress has been slow, but steady. He has learned to speak again, to stand up, and to walk with support. Though he still needs to use a wheelchair, he has ambitions of racing again one day—but for now, he is content to support his wife. He has become her coach, cheering her on from his chair.

The experience has transformed Lawrence’s life. “He got to come back in the world we met in and we both thrived in,” said Beth.

Her husband’s love and support has helped her, too. Last fall, with Lawrence’s encouragement, Beth finally raced in the Ironman Competition, knowing that Lawrence was waiting for her at the finish line—believing in her, just as she’d believed in him.

Read more of this couple’s amazing story and see a slideshow at the LA Times.

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