‘Biggest Loser’ is big inspiration

When we chose to cover the Healthy Woman Fair at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center we weren’t expecting to be wowed.

The fair ended with a presentation by inspirational speaker Abby Rike who was a contestant on Season 8 of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” weight loss competition.

Seeing Rike signing copies of her new book and mingling with fans, it was hard to imagine that this woman with joy seemingly emanating from every fiber of her being knows the darkest corners of loss and how it can atrophy one’s soul.

It was seven years ago today that she lost her entire family when her infant son, 5-year-old daughter and husband were killed when a car traveling at more than 100 mph collided with theirs.

None of us can say with any degree of certainty that we’d be able to come back from a loss like that. But Rike didn’t just come back from it, she has used her journey through adversity, tragedy and loss to inspire others, mapping it out for attendees of the fair.

“The Biggest Loser” taught her that failure isn’t fatal, she told the women assembled to hear her speak Saturday. She told them to count their blessings, to dream, to be fearless.

Her message was one of hope and perseverance. She told the audience to keep going, to remember that if after all she’s been through she can feel joy, so could they. It’s what her family would have wanted.

“Honor them by knowing joy, by having a laugh that is too loud and hugs that are too hard because that’s how they made me,” she said, summing up her worldview.

It is our sincerest hope that none of our neighbors will experience the degree of loss Rike knows. Doing this work, we’ve met many of our neighbors who are struggling with loss in varying degrees. We hope they will find hope to master the impossible one step at a time in Rike’s story.

When the debris has been cleared and the tragic stories written, it’s not unusual for us to be left wondering, how is that family faring after suffering that loss?

It’s nice to know there is a way through the darkest periods life offers, that such life-defining events don’t necessarily have to be life-destroying events.

So we’re grateful that the Healthy Women’s Advisory Council chose to bring Rike’s message to our community. As organizer Nicole Caldera says in today’s story in page A7, “everyone needs a little inspiration.”