Page 13 - CMTeen_Volume2_Issue1

Searching for Your Sport

Hello, my name is Emerald Fox. I am 17 and I have CMT. Even though can’t participate in a
wide variety of sports, I have two things I love—riding horses and bowling. I have learned
people can’t tell me I can’t do a sport when I know that I can. I wish that I had showed the
coaches and other students in junior high that my CMT doesn’t make me different. Yes,
I know I’ll hurt afterwards, but it’s worth it to me.

Let’s start at the beginning. My mother has CMT, but she never suspected that I had it
because: 1) my other siblings didn’t have it and 2) she wasn’t always there to notice.
I have gone through a lot—maybe not like others, but it was hard. With both parents out
of the picture, I was in a tough situation. I had my sister, who was always there for me.
She clothed me, fed me, and sat with me when I was in pain.

I moved in with my grandmother at the age of 5. My grandma kept telling doctors
something wasn’t right, but they wouldn’t listen. My grandma put my sister and me into
gymnastics, but I couldn’t even get past the beginners’ stage because the stretching hurt
too much. I sure couldn’t balance on the balance beam. So we just thought gymnastics
wasn’t for me. Because I was a tomboy, we thought maybe karate would work, but
sadly that also hurt. The stretches were terrible and highly painful. We didn’t know what
was going on, so we went to the doctors and they asked about our family history. They
suggested we go to a specialist, so we did. At the age 6, I was diagnosed with CMT.

Having a diagnosis made it easier to handle the situation, but it was still depressing
considering I couldn’t do what other kids my age could. When I got into junior high,
I wanted to try cheerleading, but I couldn’t do flips. I thought volleyball might work
because it doesn’t take that much to hit a ball over a net, but it took more than I had.
All I wanted to do was be active. The only sport I did was bowl and that was outside of
school. My sister and I were in a league and so were my grandparents.

Going into high school, I didn’t know what to do to be active. I finally found out there was
a bowling team at school. My grandmother and I explained my CMT to the coach and his
answer was, “Well that’s great, but you’re sliding your foot, not running down the lane.”
I was waiting for him to say no, but I tried out for the team, and to my surprise I got in.
I am now a junior and next year will be my last year bowling for that team, which is very
sad. But that’s okay because I won’t stop bowling. I’ll be going to a college that has a
bowling team and I’ll bowl for them too, if I get in.

Bowling is one of my favorite things to do, but it isn’t the only thing. I also ride hors-
es. Bowling is great, but it doesn’t really keep me calm. I mean when you try getting
a strike and it doesn’t happen, you get upset. A lot of love goes into riding a horse.
Before you saddle a horse you have to brush it to get rid of anything that might make it
uncomfortable. But it also helps the horse get used to you and your emotions. You brush
the horse so you calm down and the horse understands you that day and doesn’t decide
it wants to buck you off.

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