Mackie has dreamt of wearing high heels since she was a little girl. Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy Spasticity Diplegia (CP) at age two and told she would never walk - made this no easy task. Mackie's CP affects her legs and her ability to walk. She has endured over 20 surgeries and more than 30 Botox procedures, as well as ongoing painful physical therapy.
Thanks to the support of her family, physio team and her own incredible hard work, Mackie achieved her dream to walk in a pair of high heels at her formal in 2020... and she didn't stop there.
Keep on reading to hear Mackie share her next goal and how she stayed motivated.
From my wheelchair to wearing the perfect pair of high heels at my year 12 formal in 2020, fulfilling the decades' worth of a dream. Three years on, who would have thought I would be in a similar position again? Certainly not me!
As wild as that ride was, my next mission was to walk across the stage as a university graduate and receive my degree. It sounds relatively simple, right? All I had to do was stand at the wing of the stage, wait for my name to be called, walk into the spotlight, doff off my cap to the chancellor, take my degree, pose for a photo, have my shining moment of recognition, and walk off the stage again.
In theory, it was possible, I knew I could do it. But as nervousness got the best of my now fellow alumni, I had one more layer of sweat. I had a metal kneecap. You may be wondering, how did having a metal kneecap have anything to do with my graduation? Well, I didn’t know if I could walk the distance. After all, I was now part bionic and set off the alarms going through security at the airport. Here is how the story started.
On September 11, 2023, I had a partial knee replacement of my patella, (I was frankly too cool for a total knee replacement). This all took place one year before my graduation in October. And let me tell you, the idea of a knee replacement was daunting at first. After all, I didn’t know of another 21-year-old who had a metal knee, and neither did my surgeon! But, in this game that we call life, we had no other choice but to take a risk.
In all honesty, I was excited to be a trendsetter although this wasn’t exactly how I had imagined my trendiness would transpire. Especially now, as I find myself talking to the elderly relating to their knee replacements. It seems to me that I joined the club a few decades too soon... oops!
It was at this point during my time in the hospital again that I needed some Mackie motivation. I needed to learn to embrace this new knee, and I had to walk across that stage at graduation. One thing about me is, that once that motivation burns into determination, there is no stopping me from reaching the star in sight.
Shortly after my admission, I began the New Year going through intensive rehabilitation with my physio at home. It was very handy having a home gym, and more often than not, my brothers took advantage to get some muscle in too. However, there was one important piece of gym equipment missing. If I am to learn how to walk again outside of a walking frame, I needed a treadmill!
As life has happens, in April, we were blessed with a treadmill. It filled me with excitement as my physio and I began to test it out and incorporate it into our sessions. Finally, I felt I was one step closer to taking my first step again! And as someone who has had to learn how to walk again following each major surgery, it never gets any easier.
That is why having the right motivation is important to me during recovery and rehab. I need to be able to visuslise where I see myself. It’s like a vision board of possibilities in my head with a Nike Just Do It attitude and more often than not Starlight had a lot to do with building that vision board of dreams.
The pictures of motivation began to form in my head however, I still needed one more thing to kickstart some super steps into hyperdrive. I needed some shoes. No, not high heels or knee-high boots this time, I needed some running and walking shoes. Believe it or not, up until now, I had never owned a pair of walking shoes, I know right, how crazy!
On a typical day, I would be wearing my special leg braces, boots, and, of course, my high heels on special occasions. But I would be lying if I didn’t say buying walking shoes got me a bit emotional. Unlike the rest of you, shoe shopping was always an expense I didn't get a chance to splurge on until I hit my twenties. And now that I can afford to splurge, it is the reason that I remain thankful for the pairs of shoes I get to own now. And I guarantee if you asked me about any of the shoes that I own, I have an amazing story attached to each of them.
I was now home from the hospital and in rehab when the thought finally struck me. What better way to break in my new shoes, test out my flash, new treadmill, and new knee than by participating in Starlight’s Super Steps challenge!
If you know me then you also know that I have always been the ambitious type, and I am not one to back down from a challenge. If anything, having Cerebral Palsy didn’t make this an easy feat but, it has taught me resilience. It is why I like to push the boundaries and redefine my own limits.
This often meant discovering the limitless potential I had even on the harder days when my pain became chronic. I guess could say telling a little girl that she would never walk while sitting in a consultation room, was more than enough motivation to prove some doubters wrong.
And to be honest with you, I am thankful a comment like that roams around in my head. It has constantly provided me with ample motivation to achieve something rather defiant. Five years on, I still think to myself, if I managed to walk in high heels, I can walk on this treadmill everyday even with a new knee and that is exactly what I did.
My goal throughout May was to walk 500 steps a day on the treadmill to reach my 15,000 step goal. Which by the way would soon become the most steps I have ever walked in the past two years following surgery. By May 9, amazingly I had already reached 5,899 super steps on the treadmill and with each passing day I was getting more confident in my walking again.
I will say throughout the month some days were easier, and some days were harder. But with the help of the Super Steps challenge in mind, I stayed focused on my end goal and visualised myself walking across that stage at my graduation. And by May 31 and with support from my incredible physiotherapist, family, and friends, I had exceeded my step goal.
For me, this was a massive achievement. It made me realise if I hadn’t participated in Super Steps, I would have never found the confidence to go and get my degree. Come graduation day on October 30 with no wheelchair, I walked across that stage and graduated with the hurdle of surgery behind me. Not only do I have a degree, I now also have a medal as a reminder of my super-stepping abilities on the harder days, even with a metal kneecap!
Join me again this May. Find some super steps within you and challenge yourself. Each step you take goes towards helping seriously sick children and their families in hospital. And as a former Starlight child who has needed medical intervention and battled to walk, participating in Starlights Super Steps challenge allowed me to step towards a worthy cause for those children living through some big and scary situations.
