Paralyzed Teen Makayla Noble Goes to First Cheer Practice Since Accident

Makayla Noble, has attended her first cheer practice since being paralyzed in a freak accident last year, according to an update posted by the family.

Noble, 17, also showed off her continued progress in strength and body control during a training session at the Adaptive Training Foundation (ATF)—a non-profit organization in Carrollton, Texas—the teen's mother said in a post to the Facebook group Makayla's Fight, which currently has more than 61,000 members.

The ATF was set up by David Vobora, a former NFL linebacker, after meeting retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills, a quadruple amputee.

The center, which is 100 percent free of charge and relies on donations, is a gym that was set up specifically to help people with life-altering injuries.

The post included a video of Noble, a former world champion cheerleader, with two trainers, performing an exercise in which she was attempting to lift her hips off the floor from a resting position.

Several of Noble's followers commented in the replies, praising her for the progress she had made since she suffered a spinal cord injury in September 2021, which left her paralyzed from the chest down.

One Facebook user, Cindy Donnell Kennedy, said: "One word...amazing! My eyes were filled with tears of joy for you. I love your heart...kind, loving and a fighter. You are truly amazing."

Another user, Natasha Hoffpauir, said: "Incredible. You have got this, Mak! You're climbing higher and higher each day."

After her session at ATF, Noble attended her first cheer practice since the accident.

"She said it went so well, she was so happy to be back with her friends, team and coaches! Her spirits were super high this evening!" her mother said.

Last month, the family announced she had successfully completed tryouts for her cheerleading team at Prosper High School.

In a YouTube video, Noble, who requires the use of a wheelchair, talked about her struggles when it came to learning the routine for the cheer tryouts and adapting it for her disabilities.

"It's gonna take some time for my body to learn [the routine]," she said at one point in the video blog. "I know it in my brain already, basically. But I want to change it a little bit obviously because I can't do all the footwork and spinning and everything. So, I'm going to wake up tomorrow and work on it."