Last week, Megan Dillard’s friends and family gathered at her small farm in Hartselle to watch the Athens Intermediate School math teacher compete on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior — a hugely popular show featuring a harrowing obstacle course designed to test the mettle of America’s toughest athletes.

Joining millions of other ANW viewers from across the county, Dillard’s small group of supporters cheered loudly from her living room as they watched Dillard on the big-screen TV master the first two of six obstacles in the qualifying round. The show was filmed this April in Miami.

Cheers turned to gasps when the teacher faltered on the third step of Razor’s Edge — a dangling contraption consisting of three vertical plates suspended from a balance bar. The misstep flung her sideways, causing the petite powerhouse to slam into one of the plates and then crash to the ground. The impact snapped her radial bone and compacted her wrist, disqualifying Dillard from the rest of the competition.

“I was a little disappointed when I fell, I absolutely wanted to do better,” Dillard said. “It was really bittersweet though, because I was just so grateful to be there at all.”

She trained for two years before she made it onto the show, working out nearly every day of the week in ninja gyms in Huntsville and as far away as Atlanta. Working around her school schedule, Dillard spent her spare moments hanging from bars, building balance, mastering different obstacle-course scenarios and steeling her mind so she would be ready to perform in front of a live audience.

Zeus, her three-legged therapy dog, was with her all the way.

“He’s the real reason I got on the show,” Dillard said modestly. “They are looking for people with an inspirational story to tell, and Zeus stole their hearts.”

When he was four months, Zeus fell off the back of Dillard’s pick up truck and broke his femur.

“He had a hole the size of a golf ball that went down to the bone on his leg,” Dillard said. “I would just squall when I had to change his bandages, and he would look at me with these eyes that said, ‘Mom, it’s OK.’”

Unfortunately for Zeus, the infection refused to heal and they had to amputate his leg.

“He never skipped a beat,” Dillard said. “He jumps, he runs, he plays. I don’t think he realizes he’s missing a leg.”

Dillard decided after everything Zeus had been through, he would make a great therapy dog.

For the past several years, Dillard has brought Zeus to school twice a week.

“He mellows out my kids,” she said. “He brings a sense of clam to the classroom. They want to behave when Zeus is around.”

Zeus is also well-loved by the special-needs students at AIS, who often report that the mixed-breed dog helps them feel less stressed.

Zeus watched from the sidelines the whole time Dillard competed on the ANW set, silently supporting her in his own gentle way. When she fell, he was one of the first to console her.

Still in a sling, Dillard is waiting for the all clear from her physician. In the meanwhile, the tenacious teacher has been working on balance and agility. She thought balance was one of her strong points going into the ANW competition but after loosing her footing on the third obstacle, she realized it was actually one of her weaknesses.

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will get a second chance next year, “Dillard said. “I’m going to get faster and stronger and, hopefully, I’ll make the Top 30 in the next round.”

“My dream beyond dreams is to make it to the 2019 national competition in Las Vegas,” she added.

No matter where her dreams take her, Dillard knows one thing for sure — Zeus will be at her side.