BYU gymnastics transfer Payton Fullmer has turned her dreams into reality, but the road is never free from bumps along the way.
Payton had her mind set on college gymnastics from the time she was a little girl. During her senior year, those goals were taken away from her by a devastating injury.
When Payton broke her knee, she decided to wrap up her gymnastics career at the end of her senior season.
“It was kind of a brutal way to end what I thought was my career,” said Fullmer.
After she graduated, Fullmer ended up at the University of Utah, as a team manager for the gymnastics team. At the same time, she started to attend open gyms with her friends for fun.
This sparked the thought of making a comeback.
The “what if” turned into reaching out to colleges and landing herself a spot on the BYU gymnastics team.
Fullmer was excited to start training with the team this past summer before a serious health scare set her back in her preparations for her first preseason as a college gymnast.
In mid July, Fullmer had the worst stomach pain she has ever felt. She was unable to stand which sent her to the emergency room.
After several tests and a lot of doctoral thought, she received news that things were worse than she had expected. Fullmer’s colon had twisted on itself which was stopping the blood from flowing through her colon.
This stoppage of blood flow was killing Payton’s colon, and she was rushed into emergency surgery.
After her surgery, the doctors told her that she would be unable to lift anything above five pounds for six weeks. Fullmer thought of her upcoming move to Provo, and she was crushed.
Despite this unfortunate news, Fullmer pushed herself to help her body get back to its full strength in those six weeks.
“That six weeks hit, and I never looked back. I went full force in every aspect of my rehab and recovery,” said Fullmer.
As she has gone through the process of being in the gym and navigating her pain, she has been grateful for the small victories and the simple fact of being at BYU with the opportunity to do what she loves.
“Obviously it is frustrating coming back from an injury, but I have been able to see the small tender mercies play out in getting me back to where I want to be,” said Fullmer.
Fullmer is excited to continue preparing her skills and improving her health for the upcoming season that kicks off in January at the Marriott Center.