Life has become quite “unmanageable” for celebrated Olympian Debi Thomas. A former student enrolled in Standford University’s engineering program, Thomas who later went on to get her medical degree at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, appeared to have a promising future ahead of her. But according to the now 48-year-old former athlete, her life looks a lot different now.
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She lost custody of her 13-year-old son, Christopher Jules Bequette, from her second marriage, and now lives in a trailer park with her alcoholic fiancé, Jamie Looney – who is battling anger issues – and his two sons.
But it seems as if her accomplishments have become a mere afterthought, as the athlete now finds herself in dire financial straights, confined to a trailer home that’s infested with bed bugs.
See a clip from Thomas’ “Iyanla: Fix My Life” episode below.
But Thomas had to call on the help of Vanzant, and the inspirational speaker offered a few tough advice to Thomas, who is now penniless after closing her practice.
“Frustrated?” Iyanla repeats. “Not sad, not angry, not ashamed?”
Thomas said she was sacked twice from doctor jobs and, according to the TV show, divorced twice. In 2010, she started her own medical practice, but through a series of events, including two divorces, closing the practice for financial reasons and other life circumstances, she has no money.
“Not guilty that you’ve got a man, two kids and a bedbug infestation in a trailer?”
Now, in her interview with ABC News, Thomas said she and Looney’s relationship has only gotten stronger since speaking with Iyanla Vanzant 10 months ago.
“[I feel] frustrated”, Thomas told Vanzant, breaking down in tears.
‘Frustration is what you feel?
“Suddenly, you’re like, ‘I can’t even pay my phone bill, I can’t even pay this.'” Thomas said on “Good Morning America”.
“This is what I know: You’re living in a trailer in the Appalachian Mountains and your son ain’t with you”, Vanzant told a crying Thomas. “You’re raising somebody else’s children!” I didn’t want to see my Olympic hero’s story, because I knew her past life would be thrown in her face, while her present life would be exploited for ratings. “Telling yourself the truth is important”.
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In the 1980s, Thomas captured the world’s attention from the moment she got onto the ice. So far, her GoFundMe efforts have only raised about $5,000.
