PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATHARINE CALDERWOOD
Ali Truwit watched as seven-year-old Talia took her first steps with a new prosthetic leg. It was Valentine’s Day and Truwit’s foundation, Stronger Than You Think, had just reached a major milestone: its first prosthetic donation.
“Watching Talia put it on and bounce around, finally able to run and play as a seven-year-old should, was incredibly special,” Truwit recalls.
During that interaction, posted on the Stronger Than You Think Instagram page (@stongertyt), you’ll see many moments where Talia hugs Truwit, even reaching for her hand to place her cheek against it. They are heartwarming and wholesome moments to watch, but also momentous for Truwit because, as she says, “that’s when I really saw the impact of what we were doing.”
For Truwit, prosthetics aren’t just pieces of plastic—they are a bridge to rebuilding. Just a few years ago, she was on the other side of this experience.
Truwit inspecting Talia’s new high-activity leg with a prosthetist at A Step Ahead Prosthetics in Hicksville, New York. After Truwit presented Talia with the new leg, the girls posed together and took Talia’s new leg for a test run.
A shark attack while snorkeling in Turks and Caicos cost her part of her leg and threatened to take away the identity she had spent years building as a swimmer. But in the months that followed, Truwit not only returned to the pool, but she made it all the way to the 2024 Paris Paralympics—winning two silver medals. (Read our September/October 2024 cover story “Trials and Triumphs” about Truwit at mofflylifestylemedia.com.)
That resilience is now the foundation of Stronger Than You Think, a nonprofit born out of Truwit’s realization that everyone deserves the support they need to rebuild. A few months into her recovery, while reflecting on how grateful she was for the people around her, Truwit decided there was no way she wasn’t going to pay it forward.
A high-quality prosthetic can cost tens of thousands of dollars, with insurance often covering only the most basic models—if at all. At her prosthetist’s office, Truwit met, among others, a 50-year-old woman who had been in a wheelchair for years because she couldn’t afford a prosthetic.
“I realized how life-changing it was for her to finally get a leg,” Truwit said. “Seeing firsthand how financial barriers prevent people from walking again opened my eyes to how unfair the system was.”
But prosthetics are just one part of the foundation’s mission. In addition to helping those in need gain access to the right prosthetics, Stronger Than You Think has two other pillars: the first around water safety and the second around creating a community, giving people the sense of purpose and connection that helped Truwit in her own healing.
Being a strong swimmer saved Truwit’s life when the shark attacked. Part of her foundation’s mission is to promote water safety—a mission that is shared by Norwalk’s Stewie the Duck Swim School, which was founded by Stew and Kim Leonard. On a recent visit, Truwit presented the school with a $5,000 donation to help lower the costs of lessons for 500 children.
That commitment to water safety took center stage in January 2025, when Truwit visited Stewie the Duck Swim School in Norwalk. Families gathered to meet her, hear about her journey from shark attack survivor to American record holder in the 400-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke, and see her in action. During the event, Truwit presented a $5,000 donation to the swim school on behalf of Stronger Than You Think, with the funds going to provide low-cost lessons for 500 children. She also posed with kids, let them try on her medals, and taught a mini class on swimming and safety—full-circle moments for someone whose life changed in the water. Stew Leonard and his wife Kim, who founded the school after losing a child to a drowning accident, were there too, presenting Truwit with a custom barrel of cheese puffs (her favorite snack) featuring her face on the label. It was a playful nod to her 23rd birthday, spent in surgery after her amputation, when all she wanted for her post-op “birthday dinner” was cheese puffs.
While events like these showcase the Foundation’s growing reach, it’s the quieter, personal moments that ground Truwit’s work—like her bond with Talia, which deepened in a powerful exchange. “She showed me her amputated leg and scar, which is such a personal thing for an amputee,” Truwit recalls. “That level of trust meant so much.”
It’s that sense of trust and connection that Truwit hopes Stronger Than You Think will continue to build—not just with individual recipients, but on a broader scale. From fellow amputees to her Paralympic training partners, she knows firsthand the power of feeling seen and understood.
“I hope people say it’s life-changing,” Truwit says of the foundation’s future. “I hope it continues to grow, helping more people access prosthetics, water safety education and community. My dream is for it to become a household name.”
Through Stronger Than You Think, Ali Truwit is turning personal adversity into a platform for empowerment—creating not just a foundation, but a legacy of resilience and possibility.
To learn more, visit strongerthanyouthink.org.