Almost any word you can use to describe Sylvia Pannell -- champion, survivor, fighter -- would be an understatement.

In June, Pannell, who lives in Palm Desert, won a gold and a bronze medal at the California State Senior Olympics in Pasadena. That would be enough of an accomplishment for most people, but Pannell did it nearly 15 years after doctors had said she wouldn't live through the night and 14 years after they told her, still wheelchair bound, that she would recover no further.

"I've proven doctors wrong so many times," Pannell said with a laugh. "I don't even listen to them any more."

In November 1992, at age 53, Pannell suffered a massive stroke, which caused blood to fill the left side of her head. At the hospital in Nevada, where she lived at the time, doctors decided she needed to go to a larger medical center. Her husband, Ted, asked whether they should use an ambulance or a helicopter.

"The doctor told me it didn't make any difference because she wasn't going to live through the night," Ted Pannell said.

But she did and, after awakening from a coma, was eventually discharged, although severely impaired. When she found physical therapy painful, Ted Pannell suggested they use a therapy pool at a local swim center, where they devised their own therapy routine.

Story continues below

Rodrigo Peña / The Press-Enterprise

Sylvia Pannell, foreground, 67, and husband Ted, 66, of Palm Desert, recently won medals at the California State Senior Olympics. Sylvia's victories come nearly 15 years after doctors said she would not survive a massive stroke that eventually put her in a wheelchair.

Eventually, Sylvia Pannell began to improve dramatically, and her husband began swimming laps while she worked out on her own.

Someone at the center noticed Ted Pannell's swimming ability and suggested he enter a master's swimming program. That's when he began competing.

Story continues below

Sylvia Pannell and husband Ted Pannell's recent victories at the California State Senior Olympics in Pasadena were particularly sweet because of the role in swimming in Sylvia's recovery from a massive stroke in 1995.

While attending a meet in the desert in 1997, Ted entered Sylvia in one of the events.

"I knew what she could do," he said, "and I knew she could keep up. If I was going to be competing, I didn't want to do it without her."

Sylvia Pannell, while doubtful, decided to go along with the idea. "I thought I was almost finished, when I looked up and saw the wire marking the half-way point," she said. "So, I just began swimming as hard as I could." She won the gold and has been competing ever since.

While at the meet in Palm Springs, both of the Pannells figured life in the desert would be better than Nevada, because they would be able to swim year-round outdoors. They moved to Palm Desert a few months later.

Being able to exercise every day has meant the world to Sylvia Pannell, who gave up the wheelchair a year after moving here. She and her husband try to swim 20 laps every day, and she has even taken up golf at Palm Desert Greens, where they live.

"I can't take a full swing because of the remaining numbness," she explained, "but I hit the ball as far as I can and then I try to do better the next time."

The June swim meet in Pasadena was particularly sweet for the Pannells. Ted took a gold for the 50-meter freestyle, a silver for the backstroke, and a bronze for the breaststroke. Sylvia won a gold for the 200-meter backstroke and a bronze for the 50-meter backstroke.