St. Thomas Aquinas graduate overcomes severe injuries to win wrestling national championship
The B.C. Catholic
BURNABY
It’s been 23 months since Karah Bulaqui survived a terrifying car crash travelling up Burnaby Mountain. But today, she drives up the mountain to attend Simon Fraser University without letting the accident control her, in part because of her faith and spirit.
“Every time we pass the spot (of the accident), my mom always says, ‘Say hi to your guardian angels, they’re watching over you!” Bulaqui said. “I know they are.”
Bulaqui, a former member of St. Thomas Aquinas (STA) and Capilano Wrestling Clubs, had been driving up the mountain with her brother Oscar for wrestling practice.
“The day before, I remember seeing an accident on the way to school. I remember thinking, ‘Thank You, God, for keeping me safe,'” she recounted. “The next day, I was thinking about how I’ve been wrestling with no injuries for this long, and how God has kept me safe all this time. Then it happened.”
The vehicle hydroplaned and rolled off the road, trapping Bulaqui underneath. “After I woke up from the shock, I remember almost being mad. ‘You can’t let me die right now, God, not now, not now,’ I remember repeating in my head.”
As firefighters calmed her and pulled the car off her body, Bulaqui realized her prayers had been answered. “I knew then that God was listening to me, and I thanked Him.”
“I saw her in the hospital about an hour and a half after the accident, and she looked terrible,” recollected STA co-coach Joe Galat. “Her bottom teeth were sticking out horizontally, her face was badly bruised, and she had broken both her collarbone and shoulder. I told her it was an improvement, and she almost managed a laugh.”
Galat noted Bulaqui’s energy was apparent, especially during recovery. “She was unable to train for four months, but that didn’t stop her from staying in shape. She still came to almost every practice and helped coach while she healed. She is a natural leader and is always willing to give of herself and give back to the sport.”
She would go on after the accident to place second place in a provincial wrestling tournament “despite not having trained in the past four months as well as fighting with the mental demons and self-doubt of returning from such severe injuries,” Galat said.
“I went on to win the national championships and the Team Canada trials,” said Bulaqui. “Because of that, I was able to travel to Snina, Slovakia, for the 2014 FILA Cadet World Championships.”
But now university presents a different challenge for her. “I think the hardest thing in wrestling now is adapting to bigger girls, because I’m used to being the smallest, the fastest, or a little bit stronger,” Bulaqui said. “Now it’s a different playing field.”
“I’m starting right at the bottom and I’m expecting to be beat up a bit, but I don’t think that’s enough to overtake me as a wrestler.”
