TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – One local woman is showing that she knows a thing or two about being a tough cookie.
Carol DeGroff Van Zile is now the third woman in the nation to earn an 8th-degree black belt in taekwondo, but believe it or not, that wasn’t her hardest test.
For DeGroff Van Zilefor, taekwondo is basically second nature. She was introduced to the art more than 35 years ago, when she started taking her ninja-turtle-loving kids to lessons.
“I kind of fell in love with it, what can I say,” said DeGroff Van Zile. “I was getting bored. I kept looking and going, oh they’re stretching. I miss stretching.”
That curiosity stretched her life in ways she never imagined. She taught in local schools for many years, but as she advanced her training, she opened Great Lakes Global Taekwondo in 1997.
“I’ve competed in world championships, I’ve won gold. I’ve taken my kids to world championships, they’ve won gold. I’ve taken my students to world championships, they’ve won gold,” said DeGroff Van Zile.
What she didn’t know at the time though, was that her toughest test was yet to come.
“I knew something was wrong,” said DeGroff Van Zile. “I kept breaking out in rashes. I would rub my belly a lot because my belly wasn’t feeling good, and I picked up this little bump.”
That was in February 2022, and after a flurry of tests, she got a call from her doctor.
“I think it may be Leukemia, but it could be another type of cancer,” said DeGroff Van Zile. “Let’s just pray it’s not that.”
However, it was that. Primary Peritoneal Cancer, essentially, ovarian cancer.
“Anytime someone is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, there is that part of you, your heart sinks a little bit,” said DeGroff Van Zile. “Just because we know on average, in 85% of these women, even when you go through all the treatment, it’s gonna come back.”
Through two years of surgery and chemo, Promedica physicians assistant Courtney Payne got to know DeGroff Van Zile very well.
“It’s not often that we have women who have such high expectations of themselves, their performance status, but it does make a difference in how well you’re able to tolerate treatments,” said Payne.
With her scans showing she’s clear of cancer, last week, DeGroff Van Zile finally took, and passed, the test to get her 8th-degree black belt.
“There’s one 9th degree in the whole country and that’s my instructor,” said DeGroff Van Zile. “Of women, 8th-degrees, I will be the third one in this country.”
DeGroff Van Zile will be 70 this year, making her the oldest woman to achieve this 8th-degree ranking.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-04-07 18:56:00
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