MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – A Macomb County woman is proving that a medical disorder doesn’t have to limit dreams, and she’s using roller skating to do it.
Every time Michelle Colonna steps into Skate World of Troy, it’s with a smile because it’s a reminder that dreams do come to fruition.
Colonna was five years old when she went to a skating rink with her grandmother for the first time.
“I saw all these little girls and like little dresses and all these like jumps and spins, and I just got hooked,” said Colonna. “I wanted to do that. Because I have cerebral palsy, I was limited to what I could do, but I taught myself how to go forwards and backward.”
Colonna spends most of her free time at the rink.
“This (Skate World of Troy) is my home away from home,” Colonna said. “When I’m skating out there, wherever, during practice or during the open skating on the weekends, you can’t tell I have it; I’m just there to have fun and just live like a normal person.”
She’s an artist; her custom skates are her paintbrush, and the wooden floor is her canvas.
With every stroke, she’s defying the odds placed on her.
“Doctors said I couldn’t live a normal life,” Colonna said. “I had to be in a wheelchair for life.”
Colonna admits she didn’t get to this point on her own. Her mom, Sharon Kracht, was there from the start.
“My mom had to teach me how to crawl, walk, and roll over,” Colonna said. “She believed in God, believed I could do it, and she’s, just like, go for your dreams. Walt Disney has this quote. It’s my favorite, probably my life quote. ‘All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.’”
When Colonna was 12, she had major surgery at Shriners Hospital in Chicago.
“They strengthened my hips, put plates and screws in which I had removed later, loosened up my muscles, and reconstructed my feet, and I was off skates for six months,” Colonna said.
Her coach, Sheryl Bower, is also a big part of her journey.
“When I first started teaching Michelle, her dances were not even, she knew them, but they were not even recognizable,” said Bower. “Now, when she goes to dance, you know exactly what dance she’s doing. It is inspiring, and she’s done that; she’s put the hard work in.”
Colonna’s determination got her two Spirit of the Heart awards and a spot to compete in nationals.
“There are days that she has a hard time, and we just we take it a little bit easy that day, and we keep working through it, and I tell her there’s tomorrow it’s going to be better,” Bower said.
For Colonna, she laces up not to inspire or prove people wrong but because she feels the most rewarding part is getting to be herself.
Her advice to her younger self is the same advice she said she would give anyone who feels stuck or limited by a diagnosis.
“I would like to tell her if you can dream it, you can do it.”
