April 2015 | Vol. 25 Iss. 4
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From A Twisted Past: Outrunning The Odds “You can choose to quit or you can choose to inquire and live life according to your terms.”
honoring years of service 2 making a difference 4
By Lewi Lewis
T
he tone of her voice: introverted, soft, a twinge of meek plainness. But that’s where those adjectives end. Herriman High school athlete, Mikal “Mikie’ Brinkerhoff, 18, thinks life isn’t about the cards you’re dealt but how you choose to play them. I can easily imagine her light voice quoting Rocky Balboa, “You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward…” And Mikie has been hit hard by life. Only she is isn’t just moving forward, she’s running forward. “I always thought that her shoulder blades looked different, but I just attributed it to the fact that she was so petite,” Lynelle Brinkerhoff, who prefers to go by Lenny, said about her daughter. At 14, Mikie loved dance, tumbling, and had found a love for cheer: she was a
natural athlete. By all accounts, her life ran parallel to the commonplace, until a routine physical revealed a curving nightmare that would test her will and that of her family. When the young girl was diagnosed with scoliosis (a spine abnormality), she had a 42-degree curvature of the spine (a lateral curve of the thoracic spine of 20 to 40 degrees is considered acceptable). By the end of that year, the number had reached 72-degrees, a figure so great that the spine began crushing a lung and compressing her heart. The problem required immediate and aggressive surgery. The Brinkerhoffs prepared the best they could for the very real chance that Mikie would never walk again. The doctor had given a grim, but honest, 50/50. 2 titanium rods and 17 screws (neck to pelvis) later, the family, along with the seasoned surgeon, watched as the 14 year
Top left: Herriman High track team showing that solidarity wins. Above: Mikal Brinkerhoff warming up for a track meet. old wiggled her toes. “It was a huge relief,” Lenny said, trying to hold back tears as she recounted the memory. “I never thought that something as simple as wiggling toes, something we all take for granted, could bring such immense joy. We were so exhausted from it all. No one prepared us for the emotional trauma, you know?” But the tribulations and trying times for the Brinkerhoffs weren’t over. In fact, they had only just begun; the cross they had born all this way was about to get heavier. One day, two painful and uncomfortable
Outrunning The Odds continued on page 4
Citizen super kids Heroism
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youth of year
14
all-state awards
14
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“Quote of the Month.” page 00
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