The Stretford End isn’t done for the week…
Every player who dives or falls down like they’ve been shot every time the get a little tap on the shin (I’m looking at you Cuauhtémoc Blanco!) should be forced to watch the story of 11-year-old Mackenzie Saunders.
For every Aaron Ramsey horror injury, there are hundreds of less-serious moments in soccer matches we watch every week. Many times, the “injuries” are nothing more than a little twinge or losing a bad tackle and hurting an ego.
Saunders was playing goalie in a youth game three months ago when she was tackled hard. A foul was called and life went on. But Mackenzie didn’t realize that she broke a vertebra in her lower back. A blood clot formed, and within 6 hours, she collapsed, was taken to the hospital and lost all use of her legs.
But Little Miss Sunshine (I say that not only because of the resemblance but because of the attitude) decided she was going to get back up, and on the Today show yesterday, she walked right out to talk with Meredith Viera. She has a limp, and you can tell that she’s having to work at it, but if you didn’t know her situation, you’d never guess she was paralyzed 90 days ago. The video even includes a little dribbling through cones.
The best part? Her first goal is to play soccer again. She even wore her jersey on the show. (My only knock on her is that she wears No. 99. Come on Mackenzie, numbers between 1 and 19, please.)
The Saunders family now is struggling with the massive bills that have gone along with helping their daughter walk again, but health care costs are another story for another blog.
I love this game. We all do, and despite all of the whining, yelling, trash talking and unreal expectations, at its core we just love it. The fact that Mackenzie loves it as much as many of us makes you forget about the other stuff for just a second.
So well done, kid. I’ll think about you next time Drogba goes down in a heap.
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maybe, TSE, she’s a fan of Cassano. And who isn’t?
@Keith: No excuse. I am against high numbers in general. :-)
#25 is the cap in the Spanish leagues, I think.
England must have one, but De Jong wears #34 and Bendtner #52.
p.s. I spend way too much time adjusting my squad numbers in FIFA to stay under 25 (except keepers sometimes get 33 or something)
Poor girl – why on earth would someone name their daughter Mackenzie?
Seriously – great story. I wish her nothing but the best.
great story. I got concussed in a high school game my senior year and my coach told me, “get back out there, we need you.” Yeah, I collapsed during the post-game hand shake and was prevented from playing the rest of the season. Thanks!
>(My only knock on her is that she wears No. 99. Come on >Mackenzie, numbers between 1 and 19, please.)
;-)
There’s going to be a special place for you in hell for making fun of the little crippled girl.
It’ll be a funny place though because if we cant make fun of the crippled and the young there, where can we?
>Poor girl – why on earth would someone name their daughter >Mackenzie?
Well, we know why John Phillips named his.