Makaylee Richmond

Makaylee Richmond - Missouri
Interview by Claire Plath
Nomination by Mendy Richmond
Photography by Kate Duncan Photography
Issue 35 of Inspiring Teens Magazine

The Nomination: Makaylee Richmond is so Inspiring to me because she has a heart of gold and never gives up no matter what challenges life throws at her. Makaylee last September ended up with her 3rd concussion during cheerleading. She suffered from memory loss, Pseudobulbar affect, migraine headaches, and severe anxiety due to the damage of multiple concussions. I see her push herself to gain her life back, never give up and thankfully due to her hard work and determination she is no longer having to take her multiple daily meditations, memory is almost back to normal and she is regaining her normal life. It has been a long and bumpy road, but her spirit couldn’t ever be broken!

Photography by Kate Duncan Photography

Tell me about your passion for cheerleading and the severity of concussions you have faced that comes along with it.
 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑀𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡, 𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝑀𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘, 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑒, 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡. 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠, 𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑏𝑎𝑟 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡. 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠. 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑥𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 504𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙. 𝐴𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑓 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑦.

What were the effects of having three concussions in cheerleading, but how have you now regained your life back to normal through perseverance and hard work?
 𝐴𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑝𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 “𝑛𝑒𝑤“ 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒. 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒. 𝐼 𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡.

Photography by Kate Duncan Photography

What inspired your other passion for helping children through volunteer work?
𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛.

Photography by Kate Duncan Photography

Can you tell me a little bit about the Missouri Angels Pageant for children with special needs and what it stands for?
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐺𝑜𝑑, 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠.

What piece of advice would you give to other teens to encourage them to pursue their goals no matter what obstacles they have gone through?
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑔𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔.

Photography by Mendy Richmond

Who do you find inspiring?
𝐼𝑛 9𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝐼 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑅𝑢𝑏𝑦 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑠. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛-𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙-𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑚 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑧 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑎. 𝑅𝑢𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑢𝑏𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑝 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜.

Makaylee will be featured in issue 35 of Inspiring Teens Magazine!

---

click here for more information on issue 35

click here to nominate an inspiring teen