In March, Recycle Utah Executive Director Carolyn Wawra, along with her husband, Chris Neville, completed a marathon in Antarctica, her 30th. 

By May, Wawra was in a hospital in Maine recovering from a stroke, at just 42, unable to speak or even lift her finger.

It was May 5, exactly two months ago, when Wawra and a good friend were in New Hampshire to run a marathon. When they got to town, Wawra wasn’t feeling well enough to compete, deciding to sit the race out and just watch at the finish line for her friends to cross. But before she could leave the hotel room, she lost consciousness.

---

---

“She doesn’t remember, so it’s hard for you to tell the story,” Neville said, chiming in as Wawra struggled to describe the events in May.

Her friend called an ambulance, which took her to a hospital in the rural part of New Hampshire.

---

---

“They found out that she had a lot of blood clots in her lungs that were stopping her from breathing efficiently,” Neville said. 

She was taken to Maine Medical in Portland, Maine, where they realized she’d had a stroke, and she was treated there for three weeks. 

“I had gone for a run there the day before, and I was like, ‘Ah I don’t feel as good,'” she said, grabbing her chest. 

The first two weeks, they addressed the immediate medical effects of the stroke, then started on speech, occupational and physical therapies.

Her improvement has been remarkable, they said. In six weeks, she’d gone from unable to talk, unable to move, to back in her role as executive director, running the recycling center off Woodbine Way.

But there’s still a long way to go. 

“I can’t,” she trailed off, gesturing between her head and mouth, and out to the people in the room. “You sound like you’re expressing frustration,” said Neville. “Yes,” Wawra said with a heavy sigh. “Like, agh. I just can’t. Get it. Out.”

Other things are still very difficult, like emailing or copying emails, but there’s a lot of patience for her to figure it all out.

Most of that is due to a tight-knit and supportive staff. Certainly, they missed her while she was recovering in Maine, but the Recycle Utah team is so dialed in that operations continued as usual, said board member Jim Bedell.

“The staff, Troy and Mary and that whole gang, if you were just a user of the facility or attending our programs, and you didn’t know anything about Carolyn’s situation, you might not even be aware that the executive director and lifeblood of this place was gone,” Bedell said. “They just kept moving forward.”

This staff is one of the elements of Recycle Utah that Wawra’s most proud of. And in her time of need, they’ve supported her without question.

“You say a team is a really important thing to be built here, and this incident has proved how valuable and good they are,” said Neville.

It’s not just the team, but the wider community, too. A GoFundMe to support travel and medical expenses for Wawra and her husband raised $26,790 in just 16 days. With more than enough funds, they closed the page on May 29.

“It is such a relief to not be scared to open the medical bills as they start to flow in, or to pay off the expenses accrued from our travels,” Neville posted on behalf of the two. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

Wawra’s recovery has been exponential, and it’s clear she’s determined to keep pushing for a return to full health — because Recycle Utah is her passion.

Trained in journalism, Wawra’s journey to executive director of the nonprofit is a testament to the way that following one’s own passions can lead to even greater opportunity.  

“I got a job as a snow reporter at Canyons. Then I joined the board here,” Wawra said. 

She began working closely with previous Executive Director Insa Riepen, who encouraged her to apply for the leadership role following her departure.

That was in 2017, and since then Wawra has continued the facility’s commitment to helping people live sustainable lives.

The facility recycles 45 materials, from paper, plastic, metals and cardboard, to bras, bike tires and electronics. A small portion of its facility is used as a thrift store, where still-usable or valuable items are resold for funds to support the operations. Most of the recyclables are sent through a baler, “the little engine that could,” which has long outlived its life expectancy, said Bedell. The facility also has the only machine in Utah that can process Styrofoam into dense logs that can be used as insulation.

Along with the recycling plant, Recycle Utah hosts events throughout the year like the “Green Drinks” series and annual 100 Mile Meal. They also collaborate with schools to provide educational opportunities for local students around the topic of sustainability. Events and details of their operations can be found on their website, recycleutah.org.

While this unexpected stroke has sent many of Wawra’s plans to a screeching halt, she wouldn’t let it keep her long from the work at Recycle Utah.

“Sustainability is my passion,” she said. “I just love to be here.”