Cassie Cava is a 24 year-old Paralympic Snowboarding Candidate, Great Britain Parasnowboard and Paratriathlon Team Member.
After six years of limited and painful activity following a failed reconstructive surgery, Cassie had her right foot amputated below the knee in October 2015. She just finished her first season racing on the Parasnowboard World Cup Circuit and plans to compete at the World Championships and Paralympic Test Event next year, with her ultimate goal being gold at the 2018 Paralympics in South Korea.
She follows her Paralympic dreams while studying medicine at King’s College London.
Location: London, England
Favorite Exercise: Getting out into the countryside on my bike.
Favorite Vegetable: Broccoli
Favorite Way to Center: Pilates or some time in the sun with music.
Personal Motto: Dare to dream, then dare to put in the hard work to get there.
Daily Routine:
- 8AM – Breakfast
- 9AM – Snowboard
- 12PM – Lunch
- 1PM – Rest
- 3PM – Gym & Cycle
- 5PM – Board Prep
- 7PM – Dinner
- 8PM – Chill
What gets you out of bed every morning?
The opportunity to better myself – to push harder, to achieve more and to make progress.
What is the best piece of health advice you’ve ever received?
To listen to your body and trust the training that you’re doing. It’s easy to overtrain and I think it’s more important to train smart than to train super hard.
Tell us about a time you were stuck in an unhealthy cycle and how you got out of it. What was the main inspiration for positive change?
I spent six years with a severely damaged foot. I could hardly walk, could no longer do most of the things that I loved and relied on all sorts of painkillers to get through each day. My doctor refused to talk about amputation as an option for my foot saying, “You don’t want to live like that,” but I knew that my life could be better so I fought for it and found a doctor that would listen and understand my opinion.
My main inspiration was a total belief that without my foot I could be active again, and live a happier and pain free life, and I refused to just give up on that dream. 18 months later and I’m a million miles away from where I ever thought I’d be – I’m on the GB Parasnowboard and Paratriathlon Squads, and I genuinely don’t think my life could be any better. Yes, I lost my foot, but in doing that, I gained a whole lot more.
What is your #1 wellness habit?
Recovering properly from big sessions with fuel and rest.
What is your favorite part about living a healthy lifestyle?
Feeling strong!
If you could give one piece of health advice to your future kids, what would it be?
To enjoy every minute of your life that you can whilst embracing the challenges that will inevitably come your way!
Cassie Cava is a Paralympic Snowboarding Candidate and Great Britain Parasnowboard and Paratriathlon Team Member. For more inspiration from Cassie, follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.