A little more than a year ago, BYU middle-distance runner Meghan Hunter considered walking away from collegiate running.
The vehicle accident that left her with a broken neck was years in the rearview mirror. She was physically capable of competing, and she knew Diljeet Taylor, BYU women’s track and cross-country coach, and others believed in her.
But she wasn’t performing at the desired level, and she wasn’t improving. “It was really hard and taking a toll on me,” Hunter said.
“Even my coach was like, ‘Look, if you can’t figure your stuff out in the next month or so, it might be time to move on,’” Hunter said. “Things just weren’t going well.”
Hearing those words changed her perspective. She realized running was her choice. She discovered a new sense of gratitude and focused on simple things.
“I started thinking, ‘It doesn’t matter what happens, I just need to get to the starting line and have fun,’” she said. “That’s when things started getting better.”
In May 2023, Hunter qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:06.08. She advanced past all three qualifying rounds and earned herself a lane in the final, where she placed eighth in the NCAA championships, clocked a lifetime best of 2:01.53, and earned first-team all-America honors.
Her resurgence continued with a third-place finish in the NCAA indoor championships in March 2024, where she earned her second first-team all-American honor.
Hunter, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is now hoping to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
On May 30, the BYU senior was named one of three finalists for the Honda Inspiration Award, an annual honor given to a female student-athlete who has experienced extraordinary physical or emotional adversity, injury or illness, or personal sacrifice during her college enrollment and yet returned to athletic success.
The other two finalists are women’s basketball players — Aaliyah Gayles at the University of Southern California and Annie Tate at Wheaton College, Illinois, according to a news release.
The Honda Inspiration Award is sponsored by the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards. The three finalists will be featured by the CBS Sports Network in a program, “Defying the Odds: The 2024 Honda Inspiration Award,” on June 17 at 6 p.m. MDT/8 p.m. EDT. The winner will be announced June 18.
“It’s a big honor,” she said. “It’s super cool to hopefully be able to inspire people and give hope to others who are going through different things.”
Hunter reflected with the Church News on some of the faith-strengthening moments of her remarkable journey from broken neck to collegiate all-American.
The accident and ‘miraculous comeback’
Early July 4, 2019, Meghan Hunter and her brother, Morgan Hunter, were traveling up Provo Canyon to volunteer at a road race in Park City, Utah. When a deer darted across the road, Morgan Hunter swerved in an attempt to avoid a collision. The vehicle rolled four or five times.
The accident left Meghan Hunter with a sore neck that rapidly worsened. She was taken to a hospital in Park City, where doctors discovered she had a broken neck. She was transported by air to Provo for a complex, six-and-a-half-hour surgery to fuse her C3 to C5 vertebrae into a single block of bone.
Following the procedure, Meghan Hunter faced several challenging months of constantly wearing a neck brace and everyone wondered if the high school running star who had chosen BYU over Oregon, Stanford and USC would be able to run competitively again.
Doctors predicted she could return to running in a year or two. With rehabilitation and determination, she was cleared for track workouts just nine months later and began competing again in 2021.
“She has really had a miraculous comeback,” Taylor told the Deseret News. “We weren’t sure she’d ever run again. She has fought for every second she has gotten on the track. She has fought with an amazing amount of grit just to get back on the track. Her workouts are very promising. She will be one of the best runners in the NCAA, I have no doubt. She’s super gifted. She’s going to be one to watch over the next few years.”
Prayers and blessings
The morning of the accident, Hunter remembers her brother suggesting they say a prayer for safety before heading up the canyon, which they did.
Following the accident, as the reality of a broken neck settled in, she wondered if the Lord heard their prayer.
As Hunter continued to think about the damaged automobile, how far it was from the road, and the fact she and her brother were able to walk away — he was not injured — she realized the Lord had answered their prayer.
“That was one of the miracles that day,” she said. “I had this overwhelming feeling of peace that I was going to be OK. And it humbled me quite a bit. We really were kept safe, and there were a lot of miracles that morning.”
Hunter received additional assurance that everything would work out through priesthood blessings and the prayers of family, friends, members of her Latter-day Saint ward and others in the community that strengthened and sustained her through her recovery. She specifically remembers her father telling her, “You are going to be OK,” and having a warm feeling of peace.
“To be able to feel that much peace when there was so much uncertainty was something that I was so grateful for,” Hunter said.
Expect miracles and find joy
It took Hunter a while to feel like herself again after the accident. Physically, she has felt tightness and soreness in her neck and shoulders at times and is careful in the weight room. She says she’s had a 95% recovery.
“As far as running goes, I feel really fortunate to still be able to run,” said Hunter, who is close to finishing her first year of a graduate degree at BYU. “Overall, the physical recovery has turned out pretty well.”
Spiritually, one of the biggest lessons she has learned is to expect miracles, something President Russell M. Nelson taught in his April 2022 general conference message “The Power of Spiritual Momentum.”
“Sometimes when you are going through something hard, it’s difficult to see how things are going to get better,” she said. “As I have looked more with an eye of faith I have been able to see the miracles along the way.”
Another recent general conference message — “A Higher Joy,” from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — has taught Hunter to find joy during life’s trials.
While many prayers and blessings have helped her deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks during her recovery, keeping a gratitude journal has also made a big difference for her mentally.
“Along the way I would get pretty discouraged and down about things, look for things to complain and be upset about. Sometimes I would have to take a step back and be like, ‘No, there are good things going on,’” she said.
During one such episode, Hunter’s mother stopped her and said, “Nope, we’re going to list 10 things that we are grateful for.”
“Really seeking for the good in our lives is so important,” Hunter said.
Divine identity
Another source of strength for Hunter during dark times of feeling broken has been remembering that she is a daughter of God. She also learned to see others the same way — as children of God — as they face their trials with faith and courage.
“When I took a step back and thought, ‘No, I am a daughter of God, and He is there for me,’ that’s something that really helped change my mindset, just realizing that I’m a child of God,” she said. “Being able to say that for myself was something that was really important through this process, and sometimes hard to do. But when I grasped on to that identity, that’s something that really helped me through the process.”
Faith in Christ
Looking back now five years later, Hunter can say the experience has strengthened her faith in Jesus Christ.
“Going through trials and hard things definitely brings you closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ,” she said. “Going through hard things, that’s when you really need Them and the gospel the most. It’s been those rock-bottom moments that I have relied on Them the most. As I have come out of those moments, I have seen God’s hand and realized over and over how much I need to rely on the Savior, the gospel and my testimony. It has helped me so many times. ... This has definitely been a huge faith-building experience. I am super grateful to have felt strengthened and comforted through Christ.”
