Spitfire: A Story of Adversity, Acceptance and Resurrection

Spitfire: A Story of Adversity, Acceptance and Resurrection

There are things in life that may threaten to break you. How you choose to respond will determine the outcome. What does it take to be up to the task? A catastrophic illness can strike at any time. Miracles of modern medicine and holistic practices can often slow progression, offer some symptom relief, and support the body. However, it is the mindset of the patient (and those around them) that can carry far more power and weight than most could initially dream of. Leslie C. Smith was just 25 years old when the diagnosis of Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy (MDD) struck. In addition to grappling with her own fate, genetics had served her family a crushing blow as her brother was receiving the same news, a mere year after their father had been diagnosed as well. The family was rocked to its core. Throughout the years that followed, Leslie experienced a number of challenges that might have seemed insurmountable. However, she is an athlete at heart—a tennis star with a grip on life, even when her grip on the racket was challenged. With unique insight, candor, and encouragement, Leslie recounts a life lived well and with intention, even with the odds stacked against her. She had one goal to begin it all: “I needed to learn to accept myself and the diagnosis I had been given... I was on a personal journey to find peace, accept my new life and assimilate into a life that I wanted to live. I had heard the restrictions that would be part of my life and now I needed to find the flip side of the limitations.” Rare disease? Life-changing diagnosis? Coldly delivered expected outcomes from a group of white coats or a late-night internet search? What’s on paper does not define you. Leslie had other plans - and you can make yours too. Game. Set. Match.