Steph Roach Becomes First CrossFit Level 1 Coach with Cerebral Palsy, Writes Book to Motivate Others

May 18, 2022 by
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Steph Roach

Living with Cerebral Palsy is all 32-year-old Steph Roach knows. 

“I’m a twin, and he got a little more oxygen than I did, and we were born three months premature,” said Roach said of how she ended up with a “mild form” of spastic Cerebral Palsy, a neurological condition that stems from abnormal development or damage to the parts of the brain that control movement, balance and posture.

Roach’s upper and lower body are affected by her condition, but her lower body is more severely affected, she explained. 

“Basically the messages from my brain to the rest of my body are on a little bit of a delay,” she explained. “So for me, if I drop my keys on the ground, it probably takes me anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute to actually retrieve them. So it’s just having those messages on a delay.” 

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