Keri Bergere, Annie Bilotta, Tisch Schmidt-Williams, Aune Tietz and Erica Wolf will receive the Carnegie Medal “for extraordinary acts of heroism” following their widely-reported effort to fight off a cougar that attacked Bergere while the group was biking northeast of Fall City in February. But behind the truly remarkable story of bravery and perseverance are real people who did not ask for this to happen and are struggling in their own ways to deal with life after their group trauma.
The women spoke with Xavier Martinez at the Seattle Times for a powerful follow-up story, and the women once again have shown bravery by sharing the hardship they continue to endure. I highly recommend reading the whole story:
But, in the weeks and months following the attack, as the physical injuries have healed and the media attention has faded, each of the cyclists has separately struggled to adjust to a new normal.
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Bergere and one of her teammates gravitated toward giving minute-by-minute accounts to eager reporters on local and national news outlets. A couple of them took a back seat, choosing to process what they’d lived through largely on their own. They have struggled to find a sense of normalcy, distancing themselves from the rest of the group.
In their own ways, they’ve all made their impact by telling their stories, spearheading efforts to promote wildlife safety and serving as an inspiration to the broader community — most recently as recipients of the Carnegie Medal, a global award for heroism. Even six months later, though, their mental and emotional struggle persists.
“We didn’t set out to have a group trauma on that day,” Schmidt-Williams said.
(Note: Online resources from the Seattle Public Library are mostly back online following their cyber attack, including access to the Seattle Times via Newsbank. You can use the service for free by signing in with your library card and PIN. Here’s the link to the print version of this story.)
