This teenager has done more than just defy the odds, she’s defying gravity too.
Summer Wroniecki, 14, was diagnosed with cancer as a toddler, and has one leg 3cm shorter than the other.
But her health issues aren’t holding her back – she’ll soon be captaining her team, backflipping and somersaulting at an international cheer competition.
The schoolgirl from Scotland has always loved dancing, and started Highland dancing aged just two.
But shortly after her third birthday, Summer, from Fife, Scotland, and her family, were told the devastating news that she had rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer in the soft tissue in her leg.
‘We found out she had cancer the day after her third birthday,’ said mum, Karen.
Doctors removed the tumour, and Summer underwent gruelling treatment, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a major hip operation before being told she was cancer-free.
‘She carried on doing her dancing as well as she could,’ said Karen.
‘She did Highland dancing then went onto tap, ballet and modern. It was taking up a lot of her week.’
Aged four, Summer starting learning cheer routines too.
But she’d only just come off her crutches in 2015 when she was dealt another setback.
In April 2015, a freak accident saw her thrown from a giant inflatable, and into a nearby fairground ride. It left her fractured femur, as well as dislodging a plate fitted in her hip.
At the time her dad, Christian, wrote on Facebook: ‘Summer is a tough cookie as you all know and will again bounce back.’
And Summer did just that.
Another piece of metal was inserted in her leg in June 2015, and she was determined to be well enough to go on a family holiday to Lanzarote that July.
It took six months before she could take part in practices with her cheerleading team again.
She still undergoes physio – which went online during lockdown – and trains in pair of adapted Converse trainers with a wedge heel, adapted due to the difference in her leg length.
And now, after going through so much, she’s about to take America.
Along with the rest of her team, Summer will be competing in Florida in April this year in the International Cheer Union hip hop category.
And she was over the moon to be given the backing of her peer group who chose her as the captain.
Speaking of her remarkable journey, Summer said: ‘I had cancer treatment for six months, but had to get checked over a five year period.
‘I dance in Converse shoes with a heel, and I wear them on a daily basis.
‘If it’s hard I just try and do my best, and if I can’t do it I try a new skill.
‘I’m a bit nervous but excited to go America.’
Proud parents Karen and Chris said they were delighted she had come so far.
Karen added: ‘We are delighted she got made team captain. She’s been chosen for a reason, her teammates must like her.
‘We are over the moon for her and extremely proud she’s got as far as she has.’
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