Everyone loves a good sports story, but some are even more meaningful than others.
It's always thrilling to watch a come-from-behind victory, a championship game, or even just simply a game that goes into overtime. While "miracles" have come to be expected in sport from time to time, sometimes you'll hear a story that blows even the hardest to impress sports fans away.
Are you ready to hear the story of Maggie Carson?
Maggie is a teenage gymnast from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She was developing nicely as an athlete up until December, 2016, when unthinkable disaster struck.
Maggie was sick, really sick. In a life-altering moment at only the age of 12, Maggie was told that she had a brain tumour.
For about a year and a half prior, Maggie had experienced headaches. She even admitted to TSN that she may have subliminally known that something was wrong, but that she "pushed it off". How could you not be in denial about a brain injury?
After being told that there was, in fact, something wrong, the next step was surgery. This isn't removing an appendix, though. Maggie underwent brain surgery to remove the tumour.
For a few months, all seemed okay. Maggie got back to the gym and continued to train. However in March of 2017, the headaches returned. This meant the tumour had also returned.
Being the undying competitor, Maggie had the necessary 2nd surgery scheduled for May in hopes that she would still be able to compete at Westerns. Unfortunately, she started experiencing worsening symptoms, including a seizure, and had to move the surgery up.
Credit: LeeAnna Carson
Fast-forward less than two years after her 2nd surgery and Maggie is leading Team Northwest Territories down the seam of a raucous Canada Games crowd.
After refusing to quit training, Maggie actually managed to advance two levels in gymnastics while in recovery, and even while undergoing chemotherapy. Her perseverance was awarded when she was given the honour of bearing the flag of her province.
While she's in good enough health to attend and compete in the games, her health problems aren't fully behind her. She explains that the tumour is not growing, but it is still there at the moment.
Through it all, Maggie keeps a positive attitude and a bright smile. Her continued perseverance is incredibly inspiring, and a mindset that we should all strive towards.
Maggie had one final message for any youth that feels as though they are struggling, sick, or setback:
Who said you had to be old to be wise?
