Posted on 12/02/2015 7:13:00 AM PST by simpson96
Debi Thomas, an Olympic figure skating bronze medalist, is broke and living in a bed bug-ridden trailer, according to an Oprah Winfrey Network show that aired Saturday night.
"I did the best I could," Thomas said, crying, in a sitdown interview (clips here). "I don't have a plan.
"When things aren't right, and you're doing the best you can, it can be really hard. I'm a kind of person who made goals from the time I was 5 years old, and then you get to that point in life, and you're like, this isn't what I was expecting, and I've got to go in a different direction."
Thomas, now 48, won the 1986 World Championship at age 18 and, in the "Battle of the Carmens," rivaled Katarina Witt going into the Calgary 1988 Winter Games.
Witt repeated as Olympic champion, while Thomas took bronze.
Thomas then graduated from Stanford with an engineering degree in 1991 and from Northwestern Medical School in 1997 and became an orthopedic surgeon.
Thomas said she was fired twice from doctor jobs and, according to the TV show, divorced twice.
Thomas, who lost custody of her son, moved to Virginia and into a trailer with her fiance and his two boys. She said that they’ve had domestic disputes that required police intervention.
(Excerpt) Read more at olympics.nbcsports.com ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElIPLawZ2Qk
Can’t she get a job?
Very sad to hear... I always liked her.
For such a high-achiever to come to this, there must be more the story. Drugs? Mental illness?
I know the discipline and drive it takes to become a good skater, not to mention an Olympian. She also had the smarts and drive to go to Stanford and become a surgeon.
There’s much more than just “bad luck” at play here. Is it drugs? Mental illness?
Was she the one who’s main talent was back flips and solid landings?
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
Obamacare won't take her?
Reminds me of Erin Moran from “Happy Days”. Things didn’t work out well for her either. Nothing is guaranteed.
Fifty Five Minutes Long! They’re crazy if I’m gonna watch two losers begging for money longer than 30 seconds.
Thomas said she was fired twice from doctor jobs and, according to the TV show, divorced twice.
I suspect drugs. Life can throw some cruel hardballs at you sometimes. And sometimes you willingly step in the minefields of life. By using.
Just a hunch.
Former international skating champion, degreed engineer and a doctor and she can’t support herself? Something’s seriously wrong here. She needs help, but not with my money. She needs professional help...she’s a Dr., she can diagnose her own problems and find a solution. And it probably starts with leaving the boyfriend with whom she has fights that require police intervention.
“Thomas, who lost custody of her son,...”
Wow.
When going through my divorce, my attorney said that for the mother to lose custody, she’d have to be homeless, on crack, convicted multiple times - and THEN the judge may not even give the children to the father..
How does one become destitute while having an engineering degree and work experience as a surgeon???
I’m thinking someone’s trying PRETTY hard to remain destitute...
Wow all that education for nothing.
I think lack of opportunity can be eliminated in this tragic drama
More to the story? Gotta be. BUMP.
There is more to this story that’s not being reported.
People shouldn’t have to suffer for their own bad decisions. The Government should make it right.
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