A disease called McCune Albright Syndrome leaves
bones fragile, brittle and easily fractured.
Out On the Porch, Jim Swift tells us about one young
woman who refuses to let the condition take her off
target.
(The following is a transcript of Out On the
Porch.)
This is a story that begins in the shadow of
memory.
Paralympic Archer Lindsey Carmichael says: "Probably
about four years old so it was my first trip to the
beach, and I fell."
Swift asks: "Do you remember what
it felt like?"
Carmichael says: "I remember the pop.
It was quite a noise but I, luckily, don't remember the
pain too much."
The broken hip in that four-year-old girl was only
the first of many fractures over the years.
Carmichael says: "The most interesting one was the
beginning of school, sixth grade; I tripped in the
cafeteria and broke my arm and my leg; got CareFlighted
out in the middle of a thunderstorm. So that was very
memorable; everyone at school knew me then as the girl
who broke both bones on the first day of school."
There were many surgeries with rods and pins and the
like, and another one late last year, in which part of a
bone from one leg was moved to the other.
Carmichael says: "It basically put me in a wheelchair
for two months, four month rehabilitation; I had to
learn to walk again. It was really hard to get used to
the idea that I couldn't go to P.E. with my friends; I
couldn't, you know, play volleyball if I wanted to. So I
just had to find other things to be interested in. And
once I figured out that I could do archery and I could
be good at it, I found that I really liked the
competition. And it was something I could do on a level
with normal able bodied people."
And over time, Lindsey Carmichael's father noticed
something else.
Lindsey's father Ron Carmichael says, "Frankly, she
learned that she could not only compete against other
girls, but that she could spank the boys. And that is a
certain boost in self esteem that is hard to come
by."
Lindsey Carmichael says: "In archery, strength isn't
everything. It's being able to repeat your same shot;
it's being able to keep your mind in the same place;
it's a very mental game. And so women can compete on a
level with men and that's amazing to me."
Ron Carmichael says: "Ten, very nice."
Lindsey's
mother, Gina Carmichael says: "Nice shot, Sweetie."
Next month, with her parents at her side, Lindsey
Carmichael and the rest of the U.S. Archery Team heads
for Athens, Greece and the Paralympic Games.
Carmichael says: "Here I am, I'm participating in
probably the second largest sporting event in the world.
It's something I've always wanted; it's the Olympic
dream; it's an amazing feeling to know that that's
attainable for
me."
