#6. 63 and a survivor

From the beginning stages of her life, Kim Tiedeken has been a true fighter. 

Like most people, Kim has survived through tragedies and hardships - but what makes her story special is her ability to stay positive through everything.

One weekend, when Kim was in her 20s, an air-conditioning unit in her family's apartment sparked and caught the drapery on fire in her parents' bedroom. This caused their Queens home to turn to ash.

The silver lining in this situation is that Kim's parents were supposed to be in Washington D. C. for a gift show - and at the last minute her father decided not to go. They were the ones who woke Kim up when the apartment started to go up in flames. If they went to D. C., who knows what would have happened. 

As this was a tragedy for the entire family, Kim took this opportunity as a chance to move out with a friend and start her own life.

She jokingly says, "I literally needed a fire under my [bleep] to get me out of my parents apartment."

Fast forward to Kim's 60th year, after many great years - which included falling in love and marrying her husband and having a son together - she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

This was a shock to her as Kim had found out at her annual mammography. She didn't have any symptoms and certainly no warning signs.

"From the moment I found out, I thought 'okay, what do I have to do to get rid of this?' " said Kim.

She decided to take control of her diagnosis, and that was truly the best thing she could've done.

Kim only focuses on the positive aspects that came from her experience battling cancer - like spending time watching television shows with her husband during chemotherapy treatments or all of the amazing and helpful people she met along the way.

While she was one of the lucky one's that never felt nauseous from the chemotherapy; she did lose her hair and had a mastectomy. She genuinely accredits her husband, Bob, as being her biggest supporter through it all.

A few months after he year long battle with cancer, Kim was back at work. She was going on her 9th year painting sets and props for a local high school play in March of 2016.

As she was working on the second level of the stage, painting a beautiful stone wall mural, Kim accidentally stepped off the ledge and fell to the lower floor.

"When I fell, I was laying there in a heap on the floor and everything hurt. I remember thinking 'oh my god, I'm alive' once the shock wore off," explained Kim.

At the time, Kim didn't know that her back and heel were broken - all she knew is that she wasn't paralyzed and she needed to get help.

She quickly went into survivor mode as she began to look around for things to grab. She spotted a little wooden table on stage, decided to slide over to it, and began banging it on the floor.

"It was the only thing I could grab and I knew I had to get it," said Kim.

Luckily, there was an assembly going on in the auditorium at the time and another teacher heard Kim's banging. After finding her on the floor, the ambulance was called and Kim was rushed off to the hospital.

That night, after various x-rays and MRIs, Kim found out that this fall had broken her back and shattered her heel. And of course, because Kim is the type of person to take the bull by the horns. She had surgery the next morning to put stabilization rods next to her spine.

Kim spent three weeks in a rehabilitation center where she practiced sitting down and getting back up once again. She had physical therapy everyday to ensure that she would have full mobility once her back recovered.

Since she now had breast cancer and broken her back almost back to back, Kim started thinking - "Why me? I don't even have a leg to stand on."

And that's when her sister said, "Actually Kim, you do. You do have a leg to stand on." She realized that her sister was right. She did have one leg and she needed to embrace that.

"I always remain optimistic because that's who I am. Life's too short and you have to realize that there are people out there who have it worse," said Kim.

Only a couple of months before her accident, Kim started working at a local paint and sip studio (Painting With A Twist in Glen Rock, N.J.) as a painting instructor. Since she is very upbeat and has always loved art, she was the perfect fit for the job. After fully recovering, she returned to PWAT in September as an assistant until completely transitioning back into a teacher.

Her boss, Cheryl, visited her regularly when she was in the hospital and reassured Kim that she would have a job once her back was healed.

"Cheryl was such an inspiration. She was really the one who get me up and at 'em. If it wasn't for her, I don't know if I would have gone back," Kim said about her new friend.

Since all of these incidents, Kim jokingly says that she should really start believing in angels because "for all intents and purposes, she shouldn't be here."

As she has been so fortunate with being able to recover from everything, Kim feels that she is now paying everything forward as far as art is concerned. She loves turning children onto art and instilling confidence in others.

"I had a woman tell me the other day that ever since she took my class, she hasn't stopped painting. And that's just a fabulous feeling," said Kim.

Life has knocked her down a few times, but Kim has always found a way to get back on her feet. She is a true optimist, fighter and survivor who brings happiness to everyone she meets.