CLEARWATER, Fla. — British Paralympic swimmer Ellie Challis visited Clearwater Marine Aquarium on Friday to pay respects to the dolphin that inspired her to learn how to swim.
Winter the Dolphin is still holding a lasting memory in many people's hearts even in her death. Challis, who lost both arms below the elbow and both legs below the knee after a severe case of meningitis as a baby, became inspired by Winter after watching Dolphin Tales, CMA says.
Challis has made the visit to CMA three times before, but this was her first time back since Winter's death.
The Paralympic gold-medalist was able to see the legacy Winter left behind and meet CMA's newest resident dolphins.
Winter's story has inspired those near and far for years after she was rescued on Dec. 10, 2005, in a place called Mosquito Lagoon. It's on Florida's east coast, not that far from Cape Canaveral.
A fisherman named Jim Savage was out on his boat when he spotted a crab trap buoy that was bobbing against the current. When he went to investigate, he found Winter, at the time a dolphin calf, wrapped up in the rope of that crab trap.
Following her rescue, Winter was taken to Clearwater Marine Aquarium where caretakers came to a heartbreaking realization. The rope of that crab trap had been so firmly wounding around her peduncle that it had cut off all the blood supply to her tail flukes. She eventually lost her tail flukes, as a result.
Together, the staff at Clearwater Marine Aquarium watched as Winter healed without her tail flukes and figured out a new way to swim on her own. Unlike the up-and-down tail motion she'd done before, she figured out how to wiggle side to side – swimming more like a shark traditionally would.
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As her survival story made national headlines, it was noticed by a man named Kevin Carroll, who is vice president of lower extremity prosthetics at the Hanger Clinic. He teamed up with Dan Strzempka, the area clinic manager, to develop a prosthetic tail that Winter could use for some of her day.
In using it, she could work her muscles in the up-and-down motion, helping minimize the negative physical effects of her side-to-side swimming pattern.
In the many years afterward, she inspired aquarium visitors with her resiliency.
Winter gave hope to people with prosthetics. She wore her prosthetic tail during physical therapy sessions with her care team, which Challis was able to hold.
Winter died in November 2021.