Getting the motivation to get up and go to the gym is a struggle for the normal person. For 24-year-old Ninja instructor and competitor Scott Marraffa, it is a struggle just to breathe with his Cystic Fibrosis.
“When I wake up, I have to take a handful of medications, two breathing treatments, and if I’m not feeling well, I’ll do a little chest clearance, and that all takes about one to two hours,” Marraffa said. “Then I do all the regular morning stuff, take a shower, getting ready to leave, eat, stuff like that and it’s the same when I get home, about one to two hours of treatments before I go to bed so it’s just timing really.”
Cystic Fibrosis or CF for short, according to Cystic Fibrosis News Today, causes phlegm build up in many vital organs.
[Cystic Fibrosis] a chronic and progressive genetic disease, is caused by a mutation in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. It is characterized by thick and sticky mucus in organs that can include the lungs, pancreas, liver, intestines, sinuses, and reproductive organs, affecting their ability to work as intended. Mucus accumulation in the lungs and airways, specifically, can make breathing difficult and also bacterial infections more likely.
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Cystic Fibrosis News Today
The Beverly native began his journey to American Ninja Warrior five years ago when he moved in with his aunt and uncle. Watching it on television from the hospital bed, he immediately gravitated towards the obstacles and tricks.
“I used to watch it as a kid when I was in the hospital all the time,” Marraffa said. “I was like, ‘That looked cool’ and I googled ninja warrior gym near me, found [Gymja Warrior] and came in.”
That first day, he saw the 15 and a half foot warped wall in the middle of the gym and set his first goal.
“Anyone that comes in here the first thing they see is that warped wall and being amazed at how tall it actually is,” Marraffa said. “So that was my first goal.”
He started training with Vince Klapper, the Gymja Warrior Master Sensei, at first not mentioning that he suffered from Cystic Fibrosis.
Something that he now drowns out whenever he’s on a course.
“I can run through the course and whatnot and mentally block out the fact that I can’t breathe up until the end,” Marraffa said. “Then once I’m at the end I realize, ‘Ok now I’m out breath’ and it just takes me a wicked long time to catch my breath.”
Marraffa pushed through the limitations put in front of him and has become one of the top instructors at Gymja Warrior.
His constant push rubs off on newer coaches like Gymja Sensei William Faulkner.
“The way he pushes himself to learn and become a better teacher is always inspiring, he’s always open to new ideas and is the hardest worker I’ve seen in a long time, despite his condition,” Faulkner said. “He’s firm with the kids, but he’s got a great sense of humor and always seems to know what to say to them.”
Young Sensei Nikki DeSimone has not been working there as long as maybe some of the other coaches, but through being taught by Marraffa, she is still inspired by his constant tug of war with air.
“He’ll push me when I need it and not take any excuses,” DeSimone said. “He will push me through everything, I saw where he started and thought ‘If he can do that, then I can do that.’”
Marraffa’s constant trudging through courses with barely any breath has inspired instructors like Colby Player. Player though now working elsewhere still remembers and admires his drive.
Back when Player worked at Gymja Warrior, he and Klapper found out what it was like running a course with Cystic Fibrosis
“I remember one time me and Vince [Klapper] put straws in our mouths and we had to breathe only through the straw while doing a Ninja course,” Player said. “I got halfway through and I immediately wanted to throw up and Scott does that every single day, it’s unreal that he can do what he does.”
Marraffa’s dream, was to compete on the biggest stage for obstacle course racers American Ninja Warrior. Marraffa submitted his story and waited for the call. One day at work, his phone rang and at first it seemed like a prank.
“I thought it was a joke at first because someone random was calling me telling me I got on and at first I thought it was funny,” Marraffa said. “Then as they started giving me information I was just sitting there going, ‘Oh ok, this is real’ And I just sat out in the hallway for a little bit just wondering if it was real and then I came back in and everyone that was in here for open gym, the coaches got everyone together and everyone gave me a round of applause and stuff.”
But it did not set in until the end of his work shift, something he was striving to reach in half a decade arrived prematurely.
“It really sank in on the ride home,” Marraffa said. “When I was just sitting there thinking, ‘Now it’s in a month, I’m actually going to be on there’ I took a five-year goal and completed it within three years.”
When the buzzer sounded with all eyes on him on that American Ninja Warrior course, Marraffa said what was on his mind that entire run.
“Absolutely nothing,” Marraffa said. “I was standing there with nothing but the course in front of me, I heard a bunch of people yelling and as soon as the buzzer went off and they told me to go, I saw the course, I heard Vince talking to me on the sidelines and that was it.”
Marraffa spends time working on his cardio and strength, going through his daily routine and trying to become better in every facet of his training. All the while motivating others to reach what they thought was impossible watching him continuing to battle obstacles and Cystic Fibrosis.
“I just hope that people take it as, ‘There really are no excuses,’” Marraffa said. “If I can wake up and have trouble breathing and cough up a whole bunch of stuff before I come in here and then still work as hard as I possibly can to do this stuff, there’s really no excuse as to like to not come in here and do it.”
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