Woman takes the stage after being told she would never walk again

By Chris Arnold

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    SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (KSTU) — A Saratoga Springs woman took to the stage to compete in an annual dance competition last week.

Tonya Lundgren participated in “Dancing Up A Storm” at Westlake High School on Friday.

Lundgren and her dance partner, Andrew Childs, a 15-year-old Westlake sophomore, placed third in the event, out of 10 participants.

“The students go out and find partners within the community,” said Lundgren.

On Wednesday, both Lundgren and Childs gave FOX 13 News a glimpse of what that routine looked like.

“We did the rumba, slow dance,” said Lundgren.

With spins and twirls, Lundgren says they practiced over and over again for months.

“We would dance two days a week, sometimes it would be an hour, sometimes there were nights that we were here for four hours,” said Lundgren.

The high school’s version of “Dancing with the Stars” showed how far Lundgren has come since August of 2022, when she went in for a heart procedure.

“It was supposed to be about two hours; it ended up being about 12 hours. I was supposed to be released the next day,” said Lundgren.

However, she says the surgery went bad, leading to an open-heart procedure and a lot of complications. That included the amputation of her right thumb.

“I was swelling so much that they had to relieve pressure, so they made slits on both sides of my legs, on both legs from the knee to all the way to the ankle and in doing so, my left leg, the muscle was completely destroyed in my leg and in my foot. They almost amputated it,” said Lundgren.

In all, she has had a dozen surgeries over a two-month span.

Lundgren returned home in October of 2022 but had to have another procedure done this past spring.

“They had nicked my diaphragm by accident,” said Lundgren. “You can’t fix it, but they can make adjustments so that I could have better oxygen.”

None of that would hold Lundgren back from being able to take the stage.

“I’m surprised we got two nines and an eight the first round, and three nines in a row on the second,” said Childs.

Childs told FOX 13 News on Wednesday the best part about doing the competition was seeing the joy it brought to Lundgren and her family.

“I’m just proud of Tanya for being able to stand strong,” said Childs.

And she continues to keep pushing through life’s challenges.

“I was determined that I’d walk, and this was just one step higher, exceeded my expectations and helped me realize that, you know, when things hit hard in your life, that if you put hard work and grit and faith into it, you can overcome,” said Lundgren.

Lundgren added that she was grateful for the opportunity to be able to dance, as well as for Childs’ patience, kindness and compassion during the process.

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