Emma Curry, a redshirt freshman with NIU Track & Field, has had a few unparalleled setbacks in her career. 

From nagging injuries, to needing a vital organ removed, her experiences set her apart from other athletes. Her ability to remain mentally strong through it all is a testament to how badly she wants to succeed.

This mentality isn’t something that’s new to her, it’s just something that has adapted. Prior to her time at NIU, she was on pace to becoming a very decorated athlete at all levels.

 At 16 years old, her family moved to South Africa, but she stayed behind in Canada living with a friend to continue running track in hopes of maximizing her recruitment.

In 11th grade she easily qualified for the OFSAA, the track and field championship in Ontario, but suffered a high ankle sprain just before she was set to compete. 

“Watching her push through and compete despite that setback was both difficult and inspiring,” Barbara Ball said, one of her high school coaches, and someone Curry considers a part of her second family.

Her main priority the following year was rehabilitating her ankle, and keeping her mental focus, even as universities that had been recruiting her backed out. 

After being put on the back burner and treated differently by her club team’s coaches after her injury, Curry began to really struggle mentally.

“What was really hard is that none of my friends at home really supported me,” she said. “My family was gone, and I had no outlet, so I was completely shut down.” 

Mental health wasn’t something she discussed very often with her family, but as time went on, her dad became her biggest support system.

David Curry, who’s an international travelling opera singer, knows how to support Emma from afar, as they have always been a global family.

“Of course, as a parent it would be nice to have your child be closer to home, but at the same time, this is part of the journey — you go where the opportunities are, and you do what needs to be done.”

In her first year at NIU, and just as things were starting to look up, Curry got hit by an unexpected illness that presented her with a completely new set of challenges.

Due to an abnormality from birth, and after a day or so of extreme pain, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with a pinched ureter, resulting in one of her kidneys needing to be removed.

“I get to the top of that hill, and I just get hit by that same boulder again, like over and over and over again,” Curry said.

Since recovering from her kidney surgery, she has been on pace to make her return to the track during this outdoor season. 

Originally a 400-meter runner, she will be making the switch to the 800-meter race after direction from the NIU coaching staff. 

NIU head coach Connie Teaberry highlighted Curry’s devotion to coming back, and her outlook on the future. 

“(Emma)’s never been a person that has been, you know, ‘what if’,” Teaberry said. “She’s always been a ‘when’, when I come back, when I get healthy.”

Curry is optimistic about the switch, and says that while training for the longer distance is harder than what she’s used to, it also feels more rewarding. 

Teaberry believes that if her ankle can handle the workload of being an 800-meter runner, that she will be able to have a lot of success. “I think that’s her niche, and I’m all for it 110%,” she said.

“This chapter is simply part of her story, not the ending,” said Marc Messier, another one of her high school coaches. “I know there is a long runway ahead for Emma and I cannot wait to see where it takes her.”

Curry will be returning to the track this weekend in a Division 3 meet, in order to record times so that she can potentially compete in the Huskies’ upcoming meets at Drake University and Baylor University.