My story gave me the passion to begin my Gold Award Project, “Bending Back”
I found out that I had scoliosis the summer before my freshman year of high school, the day I came back from sleep away camp (I was away for 7 weeks). I had to wear a tighter dress for a sweet sixteen that day. I came downstairs in the dress and my mother could see the visible curve in my spine, and the unevenness of my shoulders. We went to a specialist nearby, and I was originally not too worried. I was checked previously before camp, and I wasn’t feeling any pain. I then discovered that I had a 53 degree curve.
This meant that the best option for me at that point was to undergo surgery. This was surprising for me because I’ve always been an extremely active kid, and this never affected me while I was at camp. I also thought that a doctor would have caught it by then. I ended up undergoing a ten-level fusion on February 23, 2022. I was in the hospital for 4 days, 1 being in the ICU.
I stayed out of school for an entire month, doing as much virtual learning as I could. This was scary for me, especially because this was my first year of high school. I didn’t want this obstacle to take over my first year as a high schooler. I recovered faster than most, being officially back at school in late March of 2022 and slowly going back into sports a few months later. I truly look back at this time in my life as a place where I was most vulnerable, but I came out even stronger.
My story gave me the passion to begin my Gold Award Project known as Bending Back: Empowering Scoliosis Awareness. People most affected by scoliosis are young middle schoolers, and I don’t want others to have to follow the same process I went through. The overall goal of Bending Back is to spread awareness about scoliosis to others, so they can have the opportunity to detect it early before it becomes a health issue.
I created a 7-minute educational video that answers all FAQ’s one may have about scoliosis (what is it, symptoms, how doctors treat it, etc.). This video was then implemented into the health curriculum of two schools within my local community. This allows young middle schoolers to be exposed to this condition, and learn about it actively in class. Thanks to Amber and Dr. Vitale for being true inspirations for my project, and advising me throughout the process!
