One-armed synchronized skater returns to the ice
Posted by staff / February 9, 2013 KristyKristy Allison-McDonaldsynchronized skating team
A synchronized skating team in Canada has welcomed back Kristy Allison-McDonald after a long absence.
When Kristy was a young teen, she was tubing in a lake and lost her arm to a boating accident. There was nothing that could be done to save it and because of the location near her shoulder of the amputation, even a prosthetic arm could not work for her.
She tried to stay on her synchronized skating team but was not welcomed because, even though she could still attend practices and she could still skate, she no longer looked like the rest of the team – considered key in that sport. Said her coach: “You should all look the same, to be blunt.”
Over the years, Kristy went back to her previous sports – scuba, golf, boating and water-skiing. She got married. But she never got back the one thing she most wanted and that was to compete in synchro skating.
That was then. This is now and Kristy is back on the ice with her team. The team has accommodated her by putting her in a position in which can play a key role all the while making it not obvious that her arm is missing. Talk about fighting spirit!
Read more about Kristy at The Toronto Star.
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