SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A teen and Shriners patient from Spokane Valley will be going for gold as she heads to Paris to compete in the Paralympic Games!
18-year-old Lauren Fields is set to compete in the 100-meter and 800-meter wheelchair races in her first ever Paralympics.
Fields was born with cerebral palsy and received care at Shriners Children’s Spokane
“I remember telling my surgeon at Shriners Children’s, Dr. Glen Baird, that I wanted to compete in the Paralympics one day and he took it very seriously,” Fields said.
“From then on, sports became a big focus for me. I would talk to my care team at Shriners when I was having issues with my wheelchair or figuring out how to make it so my body could tolerate the level of physical activity I was working at. In the sport of track and field, there is no off-season, you’re training year-round, so it is a major adjustment for your body. So, it was amazing to have Shriners Children’s there as a resource for me when I was trying to work through challenges and keep pushing myself.”