CUMMING, Ga. — Every time McKenzie Coan goes to the Cumming Aquatic Center, it takes her back to her childhood, where she learned the power of mindset and learned the body others see as limiting and fragile would reveal her real strength.
“This is home,” she said, adding later, “Believe it or not, my disease, something a lot of people see as a burden, is my strength.”
Water has comforted her through pain and guided her to a life of passion and purpose.
“In a lot of ways, the water saved me,” Coan said. “It gave me confidence and helped me believe anything is possible.”
A disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta brought her to the pool. It was a safe space to move. O.I. is a genetic disorder that prevents the body from building strong bones. That’s why it’s also called brittle bone disease.
“I have brittle bones that often break for little to no reason at all,” Coan added. “I’ve broken bones from just doing laundry.”
Doctors diagnosed her when she was a newborn. She was born in Clarksville, Georgia, in Habersham County. Her mom, Teresa Coan, remembers the exact moment she knew something was wrong.
“She was 19 days old, and I fed her and burped her, and her leg popped. I knew it was broken,” she said. “Soon after, she learned her daughter had brittle bone disease. I have two choices: I can protect her and put her on the shelf like a China doll, or I can let her live.”
Her parents started aqua therapy when she was just 4. It is a core memory for McKenzie.
“There is something about being in the water that makes me feel so free and so equal to other people,” she said.
It also empowered her to pursue dreams that seemed impossible.
McKenzie is a 4-time Paralympic gold medalist and 9-time world champion. She is training for her fourth Summer Olympics in Paris.
She says her medals come from her perspective on life. “I look at these medals and I see every failure and triumph and every bad race when I second guessed can I do this?”
Seeing his daughter’s journey has been an inspiration. Mark Coan teared up as he talked about it. “She really is my hero. You’d think it’s the other way around, but it’s not.”
McKenzie has broken over 100 bones in her life. Each break reinforces her resolve that true strength starts with a mindset.
“My disease is something that happened for me, not something that happened to me,” she said. “If I can take that perspective that every time I get a fracture is a gain, I come out stronger on the other side.”
A mindset that she hopes will encourage everyone going through something difficult.
“If you can look at it as something that can challenge you and make you a better, stronger person on the other side, it will benefit you in life.”
She is competing on Wednesday in the 2023 Parapan American Games.