The Ballineen bullet fulfilled a dream when she ran against the Mommy Rocket in a Diamond League race in London.
For it was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce - who, at 36, is looking for a third Olympic gold - who lit an Olympic flame inside the 13-year-old Healy at the Beijing Games.
And that flame will see the Cork woman race in the 200m and 400m in Tokyo, and start her Games with the 4x400m mixed relay on Friday.
Back in 2008, Fraser-Pryce was just Pryce and being a mother of three was a role for a later stage in the Jamaican sprint queen's life.
She had burst onto the scene as the 'Pocket Rocket' and Healy was enthralled.
"For me the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing would have stood out," the 26-year-old said.
"Shelly-Ann Fraser winning the 100m gold was the highlight and I've actually raced her since, so that was a bit mad to meet her.
"It's mad that it came full circle in a way, from watching her to competing against her.
"But she really stood out at that moment in Beijing. She won the world championships the following year and that was so impressive, but really she brought it out in the Olympics."
However her heroes weren't just the dominant Olympic sprinters such as Fraser-Pryce and Usain Bolt.
Getting opportunities to watch local heroes up close as well as a kid, especially when the Cork City Sports were held in the Mardyke, were eagerly grasped by the athletics-mad youngster
Derval O'Rourke and Rob Heffernan were favourites - and even that Dublin speedster, David Gillick.
"100 percent, even just seeing how hard they were training," she recalled.
"I'd always go to the Cork City Sports in the Mardyke as a kid. It was massive for us when it was there. Kids take so much from it, watching those athletes perform.
"I loved watching the Irish athletes. It was great to see Derval there, Rob Heffernan. It was unreal.
"Sprinting was always the highlight of any championship or Olympics I watched. Whenever the 100m was on, I would have watched."
Later, while at UCC, Healy was blown away by the fact that she shared a physio who would travel down from Dublin with Heffernan, the world champion walker, having previously seen him at the college track.
"It was amazing to be in that circle, mad," she admitted. "and it's mad now that Rob has retired that he's commentating on you.
"I wouldn't have been a stand out athlete when I was younger, so it really feels like it has come full circle now."
Healy's Olympics is about to take off and she will embrace the experience, just as she has taken time to reflect on her journey to here.
"You never take anything for granted, with injuries and tough times and things like not always being on top of your game," Healy explained.
"Everyone wants to go to the Olympics.
"Basically it's the same people you're competing against at the Olympics, but it does have a whole different feel to it and to know that you're qualified is massive.
"It's something you dream of as a kid and to live it is surreal, and all the more so when you stop fully and see what you have achieved. "
