IFBB Pro Women’s bodybuilder Cheryl Mears has competed as both an Open and Master’s competitor since turning pro in 2018. She has also competed in Women’s Physique in her career. She has extensive stage experience, but she is considered a walking bodybuilding miracle because of the adversity she has overcome in her life.
Mears confirmed to Isabelle Turell that she is a five-year survivor of cancer, and she even had a brush with death in the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, but not because of Covid. She had to be rushed to an emergency room due to a stomach issue.
“What technically happened was my intestines were twisting,” said Mears. “Once they twist, you can’t untwist them. You have to remove it. There’s no other way around it.”
At one point during her hospital stay, she overheard someone behind her say that she wouldn’t make it through the night. She told Turell that she reached for her phone and heard her daughter talking to her, but she couldn’t see the phone.
“My body was close to death. Everything was failing.”
After her daughter tried to reassure her that she would be okay, Mears told her that she was a fighter and would get through it. That turned out to be what happened, but it was no easy journey to go through. Mears was motivated to recover not only for her daughter, but for her return to the stage as well.
“It was that mindset that I truly believe helped me get through that situation,” she suggested. Mears would return to the stage by 2021, and she recently competed at the 2022 Lenda Murray Savannah Pro, which Turell also competed in. Mears had to wear a bag on her stomach while she competed, but she was there posing as she was before her ordeal began.
“I just can’t say enough about that show. It was really great.”
Mears shares a lot more about the journey and career that led Turell to call her “The Walking Miracle.” To see this episode as well as Turell’s other great interviews from The Fit Rockstar Show, go to www.wingsofstrength.net or subscribe to the Wings of Strength YouTube channel. You can also follow @fitrockstarshow on Instagram.
