Qualifying for Special Olympics Team Canada 2019 as a rhythmic gymnast is not the biggest challenge 22-year-old Annick Léger has overcome in her young life.
It’s surviving cancer as a toddler and recovering from the life altering side effects of treatment.
Just before her third birthday, Annick was diagnosed with Leukemia. She underwent three long years of chemotherapy.
“It was so difficult,” her mother Nancy said. “She was so small.”
By the age of six, her treatment was complete, but she had to relearn how to walk and talk – today she continues to work on pronunciation and balance issues.
“It’s been a long trip,” Nancy said. “We were kind of just hoping for the best … but she’s determined.”
Annick began her recovery with physio and speech therapy to relearn the basic skills. She struggled with balance, especially when going down a set of stairs – she had to hold on tight to a handrail.
At 10-years-old, Nancy found out about Special Olympics programming in their Mississauga community.
Annick started with soccer and basketball, then wanted to give skating a try.
It took her three years to learn how to balance while putting one foot in front of the other on the ice.
“I don’t ever tell her she can’t do something,” Nancy said. “When you put them in Special Olympics, there’s no limit. They can grow and grow and grow – and she was able to do that, at her own pace, with the supportive environment.”
Annick also joined athletics, curling, swimming and finally rhythmic gymnastics, which has helped her the most with balance – stairs are no longer as daunting.
“All that exercise – it was sort of like therapy for her, because it retrained the brain, she regained her balance, she regained a lot of things,” said Nancy. “I honestly don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t found Special Olympics – I don’t think she would have come as far as she did without it.”
Annick studied, memorized and practiced her rhythmic gymnastics routines, which lead her to Provincial Games, National Games and ultimately the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 next month.
It’s been a long road to recovery for Annick, but she’s a beam of positivity.
“It’s a big honour to (qualify for World Games) because of all the hard work I put in,” Annick said. “It feels amazing.”
“If I had to go back in time to when I was younger… I would tell myself that it would be all O.K. and it’s worth it.”