MANSFIELD – In February 1993, Rachel Barr lost her left leg after being diagnosed with neurofibromatosis. Twenty-six years and three leg revisions later, she’s fearlessly entering a contest to test her physical strength and get fit.
“It’s time to take care of me. I don’t need to self-destruct when something goes wrong and it’s time to learn and stay on track and do things positively,” Barr said.
The nine contestants have been chosen and the Strive to Thrive weight loss competition hosted by Richland Source and OhioHealth is set to kick off in January 2020.
Barr, much like the other eight contestants saw an ad for the competition on Facebook and decided to apply.
“I’m excited to be able to work with a trainer and for people to show me ways to be able to do it, because one of my goals on my goals list was to try and get with a trainer and get with somebody to teach me more ways to be positive and help myself better,” Barr said. “It’s not about being number one, it’s about getting me to where I need to be.”
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Rachel Barr, 51, is originally from Fontana, Wis. She has three kids and is heavily involved in a bible study group. In her spare time, she writes her own blog.
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Jonathan Lutzmann, 36, lives in Bellville. He has three kids and works as a CNC machinist ariel in Mount Vernon. He served in the military for nine years until 2010.
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Justin Brant, 43, is from Lexington. He works as a firefighter for the Springfield Township Fire Station. For 18 years he has been active as both a police officer and a firefighter. He hopes to serve the Mansfield community for many years to come.
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Kara Franco, 41, has grown up in Mansfield since she was 5 years old. She is a stay-at-home mom with twins and enjoys interior decorating. Most of the furniture at her home she’s built herself.
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Heather Royse, 38, is from Galion. She works in material support/inventory for Jay Industries. Ohio State is her favorite football team, and she named one of her two Great Danes Brutus after Brutus Buckeye.
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Tia Angelo, 31, is from Dover. She works as an office manager and in her spare time serves as a Girl Scouts troop leader. Currently, she lives with her boyfriend and his daughter who she hopes to call “step-daughter” one of these days.
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Chuck Keesee, 43, is a district manager in training. He’s originally from Bristol, Tenn. and moved to Mansfield to be closer to family. As a hobby, he participates in martial arts at the Wolverine Stevens Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness center here in Mansfield.
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Eddie Gallo, the at large councilman for the Ontario City Council, has expressed interest in pursing the position of council president.
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Susan Hunt, 61, is originally from Mansfield but has been moving around her entire life. She works at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital as an administrator assistant but worked there in IT for 40 years. Soccer is her greatest passion.
The weight loss competition inspired by NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” will consist of weekly personal training sessions, nutritional education and group competitions. One major difference, however, will be that no one will be eliminated.
All contestants will receive complimentary personal training sessions, a FitBit and a free membership to OhioHealth training facilities from Jan. 6 to April 12. An overall winner will be named based on his/her body composition analysis using OhioHealth’s InBody 230.
The winner will receive a year-long membership to OhioHealth training facilities.
“I’m proud of these individuals for taking the first step toward better health,” said Emily Freeman, supervisor, of OhioHealth Ontario Health and Fitness Center. “Our team is excited to learn more about where they are on their wellness journey and support them through the process to a healthier life.”
The preparation for the contest has already begun with some contestants eliminating unhealthy foods from their diet, speaking with dieticians and even giving up their previous smoking habits.
Ontario City Council member Eddie Gallo, who turned 50 in October, was diagnosed with diabetes last year. After a long period of living in denial and avoiding the doctor like the plague, entering the contest and becoming a finalist gave him the push he needed to take his health seriously again.
“It’s not far reaching to say that joining this contest, applying for this and being accepted may have saved my life, because I was in denial about my diabetes and I was not in any hurry to go back to the doctor and find out that I might be put on injections or medicines or whatever else I was going to infer,” Gallo said.
“With doing this contest, obviously part of it was that I needed to have the correct forms filled out and everything, so it forced me to go back to my doctors, and it forced me to get on the right plan.”
As a public figure, Gallo wants to set an example for Richland County.
“If in being in my position I can help draw awareness to health related things, especially things like diabetes (and) heart disease… then that’s something that I definitely want to do,” he said. “I definitely want to use what little bit of platform I have to draw awareness and to try to help people be encouraged to do the right thing.”
Justin Brant, a firefighter for the Springfield Township Fire Station, hopes to get into a good workout regimen and stay consistent. After being involved in a car accident 10 years ago, the injuries he sustained in his neck and back have prevented him from pushing himself as far as he would like.
Alongside worrying about his physical shape and becoming a detriment, Brant also worries that getting older will also hinder his ability to workout as vigorously as he wants.
“I can still do the job, but between that and my age it’s just been kind of hard to recover, so every time I try to get back into my fitness routine or back into being fit or overcoming the age degeneration and trying to run or lift, it seems to aggravate; so I wanted to do this for that personal trainer component to be guided over those humps around the injury to get past that.”
Kara Franco, a stay-at-home mom, heard about the competition from close friends and, despite her nervousness, wanted to put herself out there for the world to see in order to motivate herself to lose weight.
“My best friend doesn’t even know what I weigh, my husband doesn’t know what I weigh. I’m like, ‘holy crap, Richland County is going to know what I weigh!’” Franco said. “That’s terrifying, so I hope people are just really supportive of the people that are doing it and putting themselves out there.”
Before getting married 10 years ago, Franco lost over 80 pounds with the help of a personal trainer and running marathons.
“I was in the best shape, and then we started to try to have kids right away and ran into some problems,” Franco said.
Five years later, Franco and her husband had twins. But the combination of stress, medications and giving birth led to her gaining back the weight she lost.
Now that her children are in school, Franco wants to make herself a priority and “get herself back,” proving that if she can do it, anyone can.
“It’s a three-month challenge. I feel at that point I should be in a routine,” she said. “I should see myself losing weight and that should motivate me to continue.”
