(Summary:)
She is just a girl with a dream who happens to face many challenges in achieving her dream.
When Rayleigh was a little girl, she had this one dream of becoming the world's most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time, but there is one thing that is standing in her way. She is chronically ill with multiple chronic illnesses and disabilities that can turn terminal, which can kill her in the snap of a finger. Rayleigh has been a competitive swimmer all of her life. She started swimming before she could walk, and soon she will be classified as a USA Para swimmer. Throughout her years, she has battled to survive and continued to swim, knowing the dangers of competing at a competitive level of swimming with her many conditions and knowing that she can die in a swim race.
Short Story:
When I was a little girl, I had this fear of drowning in the swimming pool and ending up dead on the pool deck before the paramedics arrived on the scene and probably took me to a hospital in order to be checked out. When I was a toddler, before I started to walk, I started to learn to swim. I picked up swimming faster than I could walk. I was so excited about being in the water that my parents thought I would turn into a mermaid in a matter of seconds.
When I was a young child, I started my journey of becoming a competitive swimmer to become an Olympic swimmer and to be able to achieve my dream and show everyone what I could do. There were some twists and turns in reaching my dream, such as getting diagnosed with one or two multiple chronic illnesses and disabilities at a time.
I have about ten rare diseases and disorders that make me chronically ill. It all started when I was a baby, and my parents had no idea what was going on. With the help of many medical staff who helped explain to my parents and me throughout the years of having multiple tests, treatments, hospital stays, testing with some producers, and even surgeries
When I started high school, my illnesses and disabilities were so complex that I needed a service dog just to live independently. Wherever I go, my sidekick comes with me to make sure I am safe at all times. I still swam through my high school years and swam in multiple swimming clubs in order to gain more strength, skills, and speed in the pool in order to qualify for the national swimming team and go to the Olympics. I have gained and lost many friends due to being sick, but losing friends means taking native people out of my life in order to focus on my health and my dreams.
I had one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences when I was selected for the para-swimming team with multiple classifications, which means I have a better chance of winning medals and competing at all types of swim meets in my country and around the world. This was the happiest thing that I could ever imagine: reaching my goal and proving to many people that I should never give up and just keep swimming.
When you are chronically ill with multiple chronic illnesses and disabilities, you tend to become your own superhero. I am still competing, spreading awareness, and becoming a nurse to help others like me achieve their dream of being chronically ill. One thing I was taught through my many years of battling to survive and swimming was that when someone tells you that you can't do something, then you should prove them wrong. You can do anything that you put your mind to. You just need to have positive and supportive people in your life.