He's chasing a promise made 30 years ago

By Carol McPhail
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Scott Christmas, a resident of Fairhope, is an avid triathlete with countless races under his belt. But the upcoming IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii — a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run — will be one for the books.

Finishing this race is part of a promise Christmas made 30 years ago on July 15, 1996, when he was fighting for his life in a hospital bed at USA Medical Center, now USA Health University Hospital.  

He had suffered severe injuries in a seaplane crash in Weeks Bay that killed his best friend, Capt. Owen “Wen” Duke, an active-duty helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps. Doctors gave Christmas a 3% chance of survival — and a 5% chance of recovery if he survived.

“I was bleeding out from my spleen,” said Christmas, who suffered myriad injuries, including a severely broken back, broken foot, ruptured wrist, 33 brain sheer injuries, and a completely transected aorta. He also had second-degree chemical burns over 80% of his body.

“They brought in an outside heart and vascular team, Dr. Bill Johnson and Dr. Trey Pluscht, to shut down my heart to put in a 2-inch graft to repair my aorta.”

After two weeks in a drug-induced coma, Christmas made it out of ICU but then coded on the hospital floor, where he stayed for several weeks.  But he survived, and today he credits the doctors at University Hospital with saving his life that night.

During his recovery, Christmas made a three-part promise to his late friend: First, he would return to running races. Next, he would complete the Marine Corps Marathon before paying his respects at Duke’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery. And he would not go to Hawaii, where Duke had been stationed, unless he could bring back a finisher medal from the Ironman World Championship.

Kona will be his chance to make good on the final promise.

“It’s been a promise I’ve been chasing for 30 years,” Christmas said. “Life took lots of turns since the crash, and here I am on the 30th anniversary about to fulfill that final promise and then two weeks after the IRONMAN, go to D.C. to do the Marine Corps Marathon for a third and final time, and then walk over to Arlington and leave my medals on him. Mission accomplished.”

Super resilience

Christmas has become a household name in the racing community not only for his athletic achievements but for his stories of resilience and his talent for inspiring others, as well.

“I’ve always been a big Rocky fan — the underdog. I love what he said: ‘It’s not about how hard you get hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward,’” he told the “Rocket Motivation” podcast in 2020. “That’s how you get through adversity.”

When it comes to adversity, Christmas has endured more than his share.

At 21, he lost sight in his left eye during a bar fight. The injury kept him from becoming a Marine Corps pilot and following in the footsteps of his friend Wen. But it set him on another path — one that Christmas believes was meant to be.

“I threw myself into doing triathlons,” he said. “That became my outlet.”

Little did Christmas know that the injury was just the first curve in the road. The plane crash tested him like nothing else had. He lost his best friend, and he was certain he had lost the ability to run competitively.

During a low point in his physical therapy, Christmas spotted a newspaper article about Larry Frederick, an L.A. police officer who had been permanently disabled in a traffic accident. Frederick was hosting a cross-country bike ride to advocate for blood and organ donation. Oddly enough, Christmas recalled reading a different article about Frederick on the day of the plane crash.

He decided to join Frederick’s bike race in Tuscaloosa, which set off a chain of events culminating in Christmas telling his own story to the crowd. It also lit a fire in him to get back into racing, which he did, completing his comeback triathlon only 13 months after the crash. Frederick later handed him the helm, and Christmas led a 1998 cross-country bicycle trip, The Five Points of Life Ride, sponsored by LifeSouth community blood centers.  

Another turning point.

Later, as a single dad, Christmas met Amy Mize, M.D., an ophthalmologist who was also passionate about running. The two hit it off and were married in 2011.

“We were a perfect fit for each other,” he said.

A few years later, Amy Christmas started experiencing double vision in one eye and a downward left gaze. At first, doctors weren’t too worried about what they thought was a lesion. They had seen similar conditions that were benign, but they ordered scans.

A biopsy revealed unexpected news. A tumor was snaking through the tissue in her brain. The prescribed treatment at the time was to wait and watch the tumor, but when she suffered a grand mal seizure, they learned that she was fighting an inoperable glioblastoma.

Ultimately, brain cancer took her life in 2017. She was 45 years old.

Despite another devastating loss, Christmas says that each difficult thing that has happened to him prepared him for the next step. He often quotes one of his favorite sayings from the couple’s running days together: “Within the journey lies the reward.”

“Two horrific losses, and everyone asks me how I always keep moving forward,” Christmas posted on Facebook. “You’ve got to find your way back to the light.”

IRONMAN

On a recent morning in Fairhope, Christmas was shooting content for social media as he prepared to travel to the World Championship. He is using his story to help raise funds for the IRONMAN Foundation, which also supports the Special Olympics.

Supporting the Special Olympics is close to his heart, as his niece, Carolyn, has Down Syndrome. A fact that makes the race even more special is that he will be competing alongside his best friend Jeff Conrad, M.D., a local orthopedic surgeon and fellow triathlete.

“Jeff and I have been best friends since we were 10 years old. We started this journey in triathlons over 30 years ago together. He’s been by my side through it all,” Christmas said. “He’s my strong side (a reference to the movie ‘Remember the Titans’), and to be able to fulfill this promise to my brother Wen with my brother Jeff is going to be truly special.”

Christmas is also writing an inspirational book he has titled “A Place Called Hope,” which will detail his incredible life story and honor the memories of Wen and Amy.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of either one of them,” he said. “I’m lucky I have two angels carrying me down the road.”

To support Christmas’ donor drive for the IRONMAN Foundation, visit this webpage.