Every time an athlete at Revere gets injured and needs help with rehabilitation, they go to the athletic trainers. It is their job to help students out when they need taped, braced, and stretched before practice or a game. One of Revere’s athletic trainers, Lauri Kelly, not only helps and athlete when the injury has occurred, she also attempts to prevent these injuries from happening again with specific training exercise for the athletes.
Kelly found her calling for athletic training as a teenager, she played a lot of sports in high school and was injured several times. This made her spend a large amount of time in the trainers, and she has stuck with it since. But physiotherapy and athletic training are not the only skills Kelly owns. After Kelly finished graduate school, she started learning how to breathe fire.
“I met some friends that could do all kinds of fire tricks. They eat fire and breath it. They have it on sticks and hoops, and all kinds of things, and I thought it looked kind [of] fun,” Kelly said.
It took around one and a half years with solid practice everyday for her to be confident in breathing and eating fire. Eventually after all this time of practice it could pay off, and Kelly started doing fire shows professionally at parties. But flames have more purposes than just looking beautiful. Breathing fire is a dangerous activity, but as long as the right safety precautions are taken, there should not be a big danger. However; it happens, and Kelly has been there.
“I have been burned. You gotta get burned a little bit when you do this. Nothing too bad ever. I did get really sick from inhaling fuel one time by accident. I got really sick and I couldn’t breathe so I had to go to the hospital for a little while. That was kinda scary,” Kelly said. The accident stopped her from breathing fire.
Not only does Kelly breathe fire, she also identifies fungus, and to practice this trade she goes on hiking trips. Kelly has been hiking since she was a kid and recently got into backpacking. She likes to backpack and hike in Cuyahoga National Park, but has also been on trips far away on her own, which include other interesting stories. Kelly described the practical use of identifying fungi.
“I can identify things that can’t be eaten,” Kelly said.
Lauri Kelly has more layers than just fixed hands and a sharp mind when it comes to injures. Be careful next time you go to her because your back hurts or you need help with a tender shoulder. She may breathe fire…