Wheelchair girl meets motor cross
My name is Kaylen, and I don't fit into ANY medical box. I've struggled with my health unknowingly since I was 5, but the way my illnesses have presented themselves is not a textbook definition and they go down and resurface in many different ways. I had never and I mean NEVER been able to hold still growing up and now we know, just this one thing, is called Sydenham chorea/PANDAS/or PANS.
In many situations my health ailments have helped me, like during midterms or finals week I could function with a maximum of 3-5 hrs of sleep. Back in Junior High and High School going to 3-4 day sports tournaments and never being subbed out and playing through the finals. But what I didn't know is that it was attacking my brain.
Two years ago I added to my list of about 10 things, Lyme's Disease. This not only attacked my brain but my spine as well. This is when I ended up in a wheelchair. It took us about two years to get a custom wheelchair and for most of that time I've been bedfast. Getting used to going out in a chair that makes you as tall as a 5 year old is hard to get used to, and not just that but as well just not acknowledging the looks and staring, seeing yourself in the mirror and just saying "this is the new me" and being ok with that.
By this point you may be asking is she ever going to get to the part about the title of this thing, and yes I am. I just wanted to show you a very small bit of where I'm coming from to tell you where I'm going. My Dad grew up racing motocross, and quit when he started college. But it's something that my dad and I have always gone and watched on T.V. He recently bought himself a dirt bike, and we realized that it only takes the use of your hands and upper trunk control, which I have. So now I've found the one thing I can do, spend time with my dad, and get out of the house. I still have to use my wheelchair, but my dad helps me get up on the motorcycle and I'm able to do the rest. The season for racing ended and will start back up around the beginning of February. I'm not sure if there are any other people in wheelchairs that race, but if not then I hope that this will help set a precedent that "Yoo Can Do Anything". Thank you for taking the time to read a bit more of my story.
