
Photo by Margret Hayes Olivia Watt
In 2016, Livvy Watt, by any measure, was the star of the Marco Island Academy (MIA) girls cross country team and a rising star in the county and state, known for her long, easy strides and sprints to the finish. Last year, these qualities, as well as superb conditioning, propelled her to a district championship and high finishes at both regionals and state. As 2017 dawned, the future looked bright for Livvy. This would be her best year ever. She resolved to train as she had never done. “My goal was simply to break my own personal best time,” she said. Left unsaid was the thought that good things would happen as a result.

Before the race at the entrance to the course. Photos by Jane Watt

Livvy, in “the chute” at the finish in Tallahassee: In the last few hundred yards, she has passed five runners, to come in 12th and post her best time ever.

The sun rises in Tallahassee, on Livvy’s final 5000m race for MIA: At 7:30 AM, it was the first race of the day, but Livvy’s last for MIA. Livvy is at center among the 199 other contestants from Class 1A. Photo by Jim Watt

Livvy’s fan club after the race. From left: Coach Bruce Kretschmer, Anna Chamberlin, Kyle Ginther, Julia Wagner, Olivia Watt, Camden Jones, Jacob Watt, Asst. Coach and father, Jim Watt and mom, Jane Watt. Photo by Dawn Fernandez
In the emergency room, after numerous tests, some disturbing results were found. Livvy’s EKG showed a long QT wave (the interval between heartbeats). A CT scan revealed pleurisy (inflammation of the lung’s outer membrane and fluid build-up in the lung) in one lung. She also tested positive for rhinovirus. Livvy was administered breathing treatments, IV’s and medications. By that evening she was released and deemed ready to go home. Jane Watt was skeptical. “Because [Livvy] was a well-conditioned runner, she appeared better than she was,” Jane said, “but she still felt an incredible weight on her chest. After we got home, she could barely walk from the couch to the bedroom and had no energy at all.”
The next day, Livvy’s pediatrician recommended a pulmonary specialist in the Miami area. Making what she considered to be an emergency appointment, Jane took Livvy over the following day. The doctor diagnosed mycoplasma pneumonia, also known as walking pneumonia. He put her on an antibiotic, switched to another inhaler, and said Livvy would improve within a couple days. “But she didn’t,” Jane said, “Instead she continued to decline.” It got so bad that Jane barely left Livvy’s side. It seemed that nothing and nobody could arrest these insidious infections. Jane watched helplessly as Livvy got sicker and weaker. For the third time, a medical professional had predicted a speedy recovery, but things just kept getting worse.
As board chair at MIA, Jane Watt has a lot of responsibilities. She had laid many of them aside, while she ministered to Livvy. One that she couldn’t miss was the graduation ceremony for the class of 2017. On May 26, Jane found herself onstage seated next to the keynote speaker, who turned out to be a doctor at the Mayo Clinic. He recommended that she get Livvy there as soon as possible. The next day, she and Livvy were on a flight to Rochester, Minnesota. They kept her there for over a week. “We were not at all sure that Livvy would ever run again,” Jane said. She is not given to hyperbole.
While there, Livvy saw a cardiologist and a pulmonary specialist, who administered three days of tests, after which they switched her inhaler, increased the dose, and put her on a stronger antibiotic. “Slowly and surely, she began to improve,” Jane said, “After a week, we flew home.” This time, instead of getting worse, Livvy was getting better. But it was to be at least a month before she could resume running, which she did in early July. I have learned that it takes 18 days of inactivity before muscles start to atrophy. Livvy had been on her back for two months. She would have to start from scratch. It wasn’t until mid-August that she felt her strength returning.
While Livvy did well during the regular season, it wasn’t until the district championships that she felt pretty much like her old self. Up to that point, she had been winning and placing in races, but her goal of beating her last and best time, set the year before, had eluded her. She wanted it badly. She was using her inhaler before every run and carrying a stronger one with her during races just in case. Finally, and at the last possible moment, Livvy went out in a blaze of glory.
After finishing first at the district meet and qualifying for states at the regionals, Livvy broke the only record she cared about – her own. On November 11, at the state championships in Tallahassee, in the final stretch with her father running besides her hollering, “How bad do you want this? How bad do you want this?” Livvy Watt reached down, way down, and in the final few hundred yards went from 18th to 12th place, beating last year’s 20th place finish. Best of all, she posted her best time ever – 19.43 – beating last year’s record by two seconds.
There are no more cross country races for Livvy to run at MIA. Time has run out for her. It is intriguing to imagine what she could have done, if a debilitating illness had not intervened.
Great story
Outstanding young woman who has demonstrated “true grit” while excelling academically and in her civic and social commitments. In her future successes she will make us all Marco proud!