DANIELLE CAMPO-McLEOD Paralympic Swimming Champion Discovers New Life STORY BY MICHAEL SEGUIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY THE HARGREAVES STUDIO
Danielle now has a speaking career with Bespoken Bureau, discussing such topics as leadership, resiliency and bullying with a wide range of audiences.
DANIELLE CAMPO-McLEOD’S parents realized something was different about her when she was still an infant. “When I was 15 to 16 months old, my Mom started noticing that I was walking differently,” Danielle explains. “I wouldn’t just squat down to play with toys. Meanwhile, I have two older brothers who are both very active. So, she thought it must just be the difference between boys and girls. But, she noticed that when I did start walking, I wanted to be carried a lot. And we had a bedtime routine where we’d have a bath, we’d put our pajamas on and we’d walk to the stop sign a couple blocks away. My brothers would sprint. I would walk a couple steps and then ask to be picked up.” Initially, Danielle’s parents assumed that she’d inherited her father’s flat feet. “Mom took me to the doctor, expecting that we’d leave with some orthotics,” Danielle recalls. “Instead, the doctor referred us to a specialist.” Danielle was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when she was two. “I had severe weakness in my legs,” Danielle states. “There was a lot of bullying in grade school. Running and jumping were difficult. I became active with Muscular Dystrophy Canada. They were such a great support system for us.” However, even with her diagnosis, Danielle still felt different.
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“As I met other people with muscular dystrophy, I realized that I didn’t fit,” Danielle explains. “Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s logo is a puzzle piece. And I always felt like a different piece. I never fit in the puzzle. There are so many different types of neuromuscular disorders. But, I wasn’t progressing. I wasn’t getting worse.” Despite everything, Danielle and her family took a positive approach to her diagnosis, and encouraged her to strengthen what muscles she could. “I initially started swimming as a form of physiotherapy,” Danielle states. “I loved the water! There’s no limits in the water. It gave me a total sense of freedom. I loved being in the water and being able to play around and have so much fun.” As a teenager, Danielle was approached by the Windsor Bulldogs, a differently abled sports league. From there, she went on to become a Paralympic Swimming champion. She swam in two Paralympic Games. In Sydney, Australia, where she won three gold medals and a silver medal. She later competed in Athens, Greece, where she won two bronze medals and another silver. Ten years ago, Danielle wanted to learn more about where her condition came from and how it might impact the next generation of her family. “About 10 years ago, I started seeing a new doctor in Hamilton,” Danielle recalls. “I started talking about genetic testing. My
