Dancing-again Waynesburg woman to appear on float
Meg Throckmorton of Waynesburg will be riding this WVU Medicine Children’s Miracle float in Friday’s Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Throckmorton was brought back to health after she fractured her neck at her mother’s dance studio in Waynesburg in April 2012.
Meg Throckmorton of Waynesburg will be riding on the WVU Medicine Children’s Miracle float in Friday’s Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Throckmorton was brought back to health after she fractured her neck at her mother’s dance studio in Waynesburg in April 2012. Throckmorton was taking part in decorating the float Wednesday.
An artist’s rendering of what the WVU Medicine Children’s Miracle float will look like during the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade.
Meg Throckmorton stands in Pasadena, Calif., before working on the WVU Medicine Children’s Miracle float Wednesday afternoon.
Meg Throckmorton of Waynesburg will be riding this WVU Medicine Children’s Miracle float in Friday’s Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Throckmorton was brought back to health after she fractured her neck at her mother’s dance studio in Waynesburg in April 2012.
Meg Throckmorton of Waynesburg will be riding this WVU Medicine Children’s Miracle float in Friday’s Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Throckmorton was brought back to health after she fractured her neck at her mother’s dance studio in Waynesburg in April 2012.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Meg Throckmorton as she and her family are enjoying the trip of a lifetime in Pasadena, Calif., where she’ll ride on one of the many colorful floats Friday morning during the New Year’s Day Rose Parade.
Throckmorton, 19, of Waynesburg, has been helping in recent weeks to create the WVU Medicine Children’s Miracle float after being invited to participate with the group upon receiving life-saving procedures at WVU Hospitals following a traumatic accident in April 2012.
None of this seemed possible nearly four years ago.
Her neck was fractured in a freak accident while executing a dance move at her mother’s studio, In Motion Dance + Fitness in Waynesburg, that left her paralyzed and unable to breathe. Surgeons at the Morgantown, W.Va., hospital worked to restore nerve stimulation to her diaphragm to allow her to breathe and eventually bring back movement to the rest of her body.
The hospital petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to permit a diaphragmatic pacemaker to be installed in a patient under age 18, then performed the groundbreaking surgery that put Throckmorton on the road to her remarkable recovery.
Three months at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which specializes in spinal cord and brain injuries, weaned her from the ventilator and had her back on her feet walking. By August 2012, she was home getting ready for her junior year of high school, still smiling, optimistic and ready for her next adventure.
The newest adventure has taken her to California for one of the country’s biggest parades.
“She’s doing really well and she’s hoping to squeeze in a visit to Disneyland,” mother Dolly Throckmorton said. “There’s a lot of parade functions that occur before the parade so we’ll just see what time allows.”
Meg Throckmorton and five other patients who received life-saving procedures from WVU Medicine Children’s and their families are now in Pasadena getting ready for the parade that precedes the Rose Bowl game between Iowa and Stanford. They were busy behind the scenes the past few days getting last-minute instructions and adding live roses of gratitude to the float they will be waving and smiling from tomorrow.
The 55-foot float, designed by California-based artist and Morgantown native Lorraine Strieby, weaves the 127th annual Rose Parade theme “Find Your Adventure” into a tapestry of historical sites and seasonal fun to be found in West Virginia.
The idea is these adventures, from sightseeing and hiking the hills to whitewater rafting and skiing, are waiting for patients once their treatment is over.
Eye-catching details include a mountain bike, two black bears named Courage and Pride, trees for every season and even a flurry of snow from the slopes. A covered bridge in the middle of the float is patterned after the bridge in Philippi, W.Va., that was used as an infirmary during the Civil War, a reminder of how far medical treatment has come in 150 years.
The miracle children whose lives were enriched by the care they received are part of the tableau. With a cheerful nod to irony, Meg Throckmorton will be in the white water raft wearing a life vest and a helmet on her head.
WVU Medicine Children’s Director Cheryl Jones came to Pasadena in early December to help decorate the float and coordinate the details of attending this historic parade that dates to 1890. It was once part of a Pasadena winter festival put on by local sportsmen on New Year’s Day involving chariot races, jousting and even races between elephants, ostriches and camels.
Now it is a two-hour international extravaganza, with massive animated floats built by corporations and community groups parading with countless marching bands and equine units strutting their stuff.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for the hospital, the children and the state of West Virginia to be seen by the world,” Jones said.
Jones said the Miracle Children’s float is scheduled to be visible on national television about 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Her three children, along with hospital staff, administrators and some of their children will join the Miracle Children on the float as part of the scenic panorama of what West Virginia has to offer.
Meanwhile, the New Year’s Day event is another big step for Throckmorton, who just finished finals week in her freshman year at Waynesburg University. Throckmorton continues with therapy, to smile her dazzling smile and to even dance.
Ballet, it turns out, is just the right therapy for improving balance.