‘Until I can’t, I will’: Nebraska athlete, coach inspires her divers through resilience in face of multiple sclerosis diagnosis

By Lauren Michelson

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    PAPILLION, Nebraska (KETV) — Almost 26 years after her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, Papio and Papio South diving coach Jodi Janssen Stice is at the top of her coaching game.

She’s taking life one step at a time and not letting her disease stop her from inspiring the next generation of divers in the state.

A diver’s approach starts with a step.

Stice knows that step well.

“You have to visualize everything, and then you have to tell yourself, you can do this,” she said.

Now, she’s Papillion La Vista’s head diving coach, but in the 90s, she made history as the first four-time state champion in Nebraska.

“That year was amazing,” Stice said.

Stice took steps towards history, earning a diving scholarship at Texas A&M, where she set program records in the platform, 1-meter, and 3-meter springboard.

“It’s teamwork. It’s the commitment. It’s the drive that you learn,” she said.

She didn’t know it then, but that drive would fuel a different kind of fight.

“All of a sudden, I started going numb from the waist down, and I thought I pinched nerve. No big deal,” she said.

Life as she knew it changed.

“And after I went through a whole bunch of tests, they said, Jodi, you have MS, and I thought, no, I can’t, I’m too young,” she said. “My whole world changed.”

There is no cure for multiple sclerosis.

“It was July 31, 1999. I’ll never forget that day. And that day changed my life because I knew I had to fight. I had to fight in every competition, and now I had to fight to continue on living with MS,” Stice said.

Every day became a challenge. Some steps are harder than others.

“Some days, my first step, I can’t feel my feet. Some days it hurts to step. Some days I’m so exhausted that I feel like I need to take a nap,” she said. “Sometimes you hurt all over. Everybody’s symptoms are different, but I’ve learned to level set and then just move on.”

Now, her success isn’t measured in medals but in moments

“I’m not going to be doing flips off the diving board, but if I can coach that next person that next year and this year, I coach the state champ. So, it was so fulfilling,” she said.

Stice reminds her divers that it’s not about the setback. It’s about the next step.

“There’s some days that I don’t feel great, but I get up and get going every day. And that’s what I’ve tried to teach them,” she said.

Over the weekend, Stice crossed the finish line at Omaha’s MS walk 26 years after her diagnosis.

“When you see a diver, they take one step, one step. That’s the same with MS. You have to put one foot in front of the other. That’s what we do every day on the diving board or in life,” she said.

Whatever comes next, Stice faces it like she faced the board — one step at a time.

“There’s days that I’m in pain. There’s days that my legs don’t function. But there’s a lot of days that have really good things. So, until I can’t, I will,” Stice said.

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