“For someone who was told she would never walk again, Mackenzie Gorden spends a lot of time thinking about shoes.”
The first sentence of this Denver Post story pretty much sets the tone and the story goes downhill from there.
Golden was 18 and looking forward to senior year. She had danced and cheered all over the state and was to captain her team on a summer trip to cheer in Hawaii. She was a nursing assistant and wanted to pursue a nursing degree. Shattered C5 and C6 vertebrae now clamped down on those dreams.
“Goodness where do I start?” writes Bad Cripple blogger William Peace. ” ‘A girl can have many goals.’ This sentence could have been included in a 1955 etiquette book for girls. You know a girl is supposed to support her husband, have children, and be a good homemaker. Paralyzed people are sedentary, quadriplegics shuffle their feet, Gorden retains her rail thin figure and a spinal cord injury clamps down on her dreams. This is not just bad. This is epically bad.”