Mak’s Story
Makayla Noble is a senior at Prosper High School in Texas. On September 20, 2021, she was injured in a backyard tumbling accident which resulted in a severe spinal cord injury (SCI).
Known and loved by many, the generous outpouring of support for Mak from friends, family and fans can be seen and heard around the world.
Makayla’s cheerleading career began in Greenwood, Indiana when she was 10 years old. From a young age, her mental fortitude and unmatched work ethic combined with her natural athleticism and endearing smile paved a path to success.
Following her family’s relocation to Texas, Mak joined Cheer Athletics in Plano earning a position as a flyer on the world champion, Cheetahs (Large Senior Coed Level 6). Mak went on to earn national honors, including the 2018 NCA National Championship and the 2019 Cheer World Championship. Mak achieved the honor of being named High School All-American for three consecutive years.
Mak loves to spend time with her friends and family. She also loves to travel to Disney World and any warm, sandy beach.
Fun Facts
- Mak’s favorite place to eat is Chipotle.
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is Mak’s favorite movie.
- The University of Oklahoma is Mak’s favorite college.
- Wear purple! It’s Mak’s favorite color.
- Mak loves listening to Tame Impala.
- Makayla was recently baptized and is dedicated to growing in her faith.
Prosper cheerleader making miraculous recovery after breaking her neck in tumbling accident
Makayla Noble suffered a serious spinal cord injury from the incident and has since returned home to continue her recovery, inspiring so many others. Since the accident, thousands across the country have been following Makayla’s journey. She’s now back home, going to physical therapy and making more improvements each day.
PROSPER, Texas — A Prosper cheerleader paralyzed in a freak tumbling accident in September is showing enormous signs of improvement.
Makayla Noble suffered a serious spinal cord injury from the incident and has since returned home to continue her recovery, inspiring so many others.
Since the accident, thousands across the country have been following Makayla’s journey. She’s now back home, going to physical therapy and making more improvements each day.
Just two and a half months since doctors told her she’d never walk again, Makayla is making small but mighty strides toward breathing on her own and rolling over. It’s something physical therapists told her typically takes weeks to do that she accomplished on her third try.
«I don’t like being told I can’t do something because I’m going to prove you wrong,» she said. «I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it better than you think I can do it.»
In September, Makayla was practicing a flip at a friend’s house when she landed on her neck.
«I knew instantly that I was paralyzed,» she said. «I just kind of hit the ground, and it was just kind of a tingling sensation through my whole body. And I just couldn’t feel anything below my neck.»
Makayla spent weeks in ICU before moving to in-patient physical therapy for her spinal cord injury.
VIDEO: Injured Prosper cheerleader has message for supporters
The Prosper cheerleader injured in a tumbling accident is now being transferred to a rehabilitation facility.
The family says the outpouring of community support has helped them through some of their toughest days — from meals provided by friends to essential equipment like a wheelchair and an electric lift donated by strangers.
«Just to know we’re not in this alone. There are people praying for us and supporting us,» said mom Jenn Noble.
Makayla is continuing to be an inspiration to many and is celebrating each small victory.
«It’s like, ‘Oh my gosh! You can sit up with support!’ Or like yesterday, ‘You can roll over!’ Honestly, I’m more proud of her now accomplishing those things than I was when she was a baby and accomplished them,» Jenn said.
And it’s only up from here.
«There’s always going to be people that have it better than you, and there’s always going to be people that have it worse than you,» Makayla said. «But you have so many things to be thankful for, and you don’t realize that until they’re taken away.»
Makayla will continue with physical therapy about three times a week and hopes to eventually return to school in person next year to finish her senior year of high school before going on to college.
Prosper cheerleader damages spinal cord in tumbling accident
The Prosper community is rallying around a cheerleader who was seriously injured in a tumbling accident.
Cheerleading injury not slowing down Makayla Noble
DALLAS — Makayla Noble has been passionate about being a cheerleader for a long time.
What You Need To Know
- Noble was a part of a national and world championship cheerleading team
- She suffered a serious neck injury during a cheerleading accident
- Since then, she has regained some feeling in her lower body
- She developed a large following on social media after sharing her story
“Cheerleading means a lot to me. It’s something that I live for,” Makayla said. “It was my go-away place, that if I was having a bad day, I would go to cheer and get it all out there.”
Not only did she love the sport, Makayla has competed at the highest levels. She was a part of Cheer Athletics in Plano that won a 2018 NCA National Championship and 2019 Cheer World Championship.
“The level that I was at, there’s only three teams in the whole world that were able to be at that level and stay at that level,” she said.
While Makayla competed at the national level, she was also a part of the cheerleading team at Prosper High School, just north of Dallas. Early this school year, she was with some friends and practicing a routine that they were going to perform for that week’s homecoming activities.
“It was September 20th,” Makayla recalled. “The football players and the cheerleaders did like a country dance together. We were at a friend’s house practicing the dance and decided we were going to teach the boys how to do this flip. It just went wrong.”
Makayla remembers going into the flip and then landing straight on her throat in the backyard’s grass. It was clear immediately that something was really wrong.
“As crazy as it sounds, I knew instantly that I was paralyzed,” Makayla said. “It was a calm sensation I felt throughout my body. I’m not going to try and get up. I’m just going to lay here and I know I have to stay calm.”
Makayla’s mother, Jenn, received a call that her daughter was injured and she went over to the house immediately.
“I was so scared, and it was so overwhelming,” said Jenn Noble. “Once I got there, she was so calm. You would not even know that she had broken her neck.”
What Makayla had felt as soon as the injury happened turned out to be true. She had suffered a serious spinal cord injury and had no feeling in her lower body.
“As a mom I am sitting there, like telling her, please feel something. Move your toes or say you can feel something,” said Jenn. “It was heartbreaking.”
The doctor told the Noble family that Makayla would not walk again.
“I didn’t want to accept that I was in a wheelchair and going to be in a wheelchair,” Makayla said. “I thought I was an athlete, I was invincible.”
Trying to understand her new reality was tough, but Makayla would not let it stop her from living a productive life.
“This isn’t something that defines me, it’s actually there to help me,” said Makayla. “It’s given me the ability to go wherever I want, do whatever I want.”
Another interesting thing occurred after the injury. Makayla decided to document a lot of her recovery through social media and it created a large following of people interested in her story.
“What we found is being vulnerable and sharing this has helped so many people,” Jenn said. “They have fallen in love with Makayla and this story and people are so invested in that that they’re like, ‘You can’t stop now.’”
Her YouTube page has over 90,000 subscribers, and she has almost 200,000 followers on Instagram.
“The platform that I’ve gained through this all is a blessing. It’s something I never expected,” said Makayla.
There are still hard moments for Makayla, but there has also been a lot of progress in the months since the accident. She has regained some feeling in her legs and can even walk with assistance. She recently tried out for the high school cheerleading team and made it.
“I still have expectations and they’re going to be more challenging to achieve,” she said. “But I’m going to go for them and I’m going to do them.”
Texas Cheerleader Makayla Noble Describes Moment She Was Paralyzed
Makayla Noble, a high school cheerleader from Texas, has spoken about the moment she was paralzyed in a freak accident.
The 17-year-old from Prosper, Texas, severely injured her spinal cord on September 20 while practicing for homecoming. She was tumbling at the time—a move the can involve flipping, twisting, rolling and jumping.
The teenager was hospitalized for almost two months after she was injured, spending weeks in ICU followed by physical therapy.
Since the accident, over $203,000 has been raised for her on GoFundMe.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.