Faith heals the soul and restores the body. This is what United States Olympic pair figure skater Alexa Scimeca Knierim and her husband-slash-partner, Chris Knierim, are able to testify after they battled a life-threatening illness by clinging on to their faith in God.
"It's the reason I was able to get back on the ice," 26-year-old Alexa Knierim told PEOPLE of her Christian faith. Back in 2016, she was diagnosed with a serious gastrointestinal condition that required three surgeries. At the time, Alexa was just months away from her June 2016 wedding.
She and Chris were introduced to each other by their coach back in 2012, and they got engaged in 2014. Their future looked bright because of their talent on the ice, as well as the promise of their life together as husband and wife. But life's challenges were only beginning for them.
Right before the last competition of the 2015-2016 season in April 2016, Alexa began feeling really sick. She began to vomit uncontrollably for hours at a time, and she could not understand why. Her condition stayed the same for months until they were forced to withdraw from skating competitions for the first half of the 2016-2017 season.
When she sought medical help, she was diagnosed with a life-threatening gastrointestinal condition. The illness was so bad that at one point, Alexa only weighed 80 pounds. After undergoing the surgeries, Alexa's body felt so weak that she could not even stand on her own.
But God had big plans for the couple. Eventually, she regained her strength. It was still a low point in Alexa's life as she tried to ease her way back into figure skating, but when she placed her trust in God, things fell into place.
"I stopped worrying and stopped trying to control life, because I couldn't. In the moment, you know, I was so sick and didn't really know where things were going to go for me, whether it was skating or life in general," she shared. "So I finally just threw my hands up and said like, 'You lead the way,' and it's my testimony and I stay true to it."
Alexa and Chris could not imagine that this year they would finish fourth in the free skate portion of the Winter Olympics held at Gangneung, South Korea. For Alexa, their victory is to "glorify God."
"And even here at the Games, it's no longer about me," she added. "I have fans out there who know that I am a true believer in the Lord and I'm trying my best to shine His light and let people know that it's okay to promote Him and do things for Him, because in the Christian life that's kind of what we're supposed to."
