Melissa Corbit was 15 years old when a tragic accident forever changed the trajectory of her life. As she was walking, a car backed into her and she was pulled underneath it. She doesn't remember much from that day, only the faces looking down at her and the biting cold. She recalls the desperate pleas she sent to God: "If you save me, I'll listen," she kept thinking.
Miraculously, Melissa survived. But the road ahead was uncertain. Her doctors painted a grim picture: she might remain a paraplegic, she probably wouldn’t be able to have children, or, if she ever walked again, she would need a cane or walker for life.
Melissa’s physical therapist was the one who stressed the importance of strength training to get back on her feet. He shrugged off her doctors’ bleak prognosis. “Don't listen to all of them, you have to be strong,” he told her.
Strength is the Foundation
It took Melissa a year after the accident to get out of her wheelchair and use a walker, and then another year to ditch the walker. She underwent two surgeries throughout the recovery process. The pain was intense—at one point her mom had to call an ambulance because she fell and couldn’t get up.
“Pain is a big factor in changing people,” Melissa says, noting that at that point, she was studying everything she could about fitness, determined to rebuild her body.
Melissa walked with a limp throughout high school, but by the time she was 18 or 19, she felt strong enough to push her limits. Her physical therapist’s words stayed with her, guiding her as she embraced strength training as a core foundation to her exercise regime.
“I really think that I am what I am today because I always strength train,” she says. “I truly believe if I didn't, I'd still be crawling around to get to the bathtub.”
Though the road to recovery was arduous, Melissa defied the odds, and her journey inspired her to help others. She earned an exercise science degree and became a personal fitness trainer, sharing her passion and experience with anyone looking to improve their health. And, Melissa also gave birth to four children—an achievement her doctors originally hadn’t expected.
After moving to Northwest Arkansas about a decade ago from Little Rock, she worked as a personal training manager for the Jones Center before joining the Rogers Activity Center around five years ago.
Now, more than three decades later, she’s stronger than ever, working with dozens of clients each week as they pursue their own health and fitness goals. “I always live by the philosophy of stronger is better, and everything else is a fringe benefit,” she says. “Strength training is the fountain of youth.”
Throughout her life, she’s remained committed to her deal with God, believing she was led down the path she was supposed to follow.
“I made that deal under the car, that if I made it, I was going to listen, and it guided me to fitness,” Melissa reflects. “I always thought I was meant to have the wreck, because I was meant to do this.”