CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — It was about a month ago when a teenager had her arm amputated because of cancer.
A month later, she competed in her high school swim meet, did well and is determined to keep going.
The teen says she couldn't wait to get back in the water.
Tyler Brown's family members were a little concerned about her jumping back into the water so soon after she had her arm amputated. Then, they gathered for her swim meet. They watched her compete and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
The 14-year-old swimmer was holding her own in a competition.
“Man, I was crying,” father Jae Brown said.
Her family and supporters cheered her on.
“I was screaming,” mother Mechelle Brown said.
“I know that I just wanted to get back in,” Tyler said.
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Tyler had been a prolific swimmer. Then a tumor grew on her right arm. Doctors removed the tumor.
“The tumor started growing back,” her father said.It was malignant. Doctors had to amputate Tyler’s arm to save her life.
While her family worried, Tyler says she kept it moving.
“I was just living life the same way. It didn't affect me in any way,” Tyler says.
That meant getting back in the pool and competing.
She did well for her Elite Scholars Academy relay team.
Tyler knows competing won't be easy with one arm.
“I do feel like I have to work harder than my two-arm counterparts, but it's work I'm willing to do,” she said.
Her mother says that naturally, she was concerned about Tyler getting back in the water.
“I wanted her to go back. I just didn't necessarily want her to go back so soon,” she said.
But she went back and now she is ready to conquer the world with one arm.
“I am really competitive, so, like, I want people to count me out so then I want to prove them wrong,” Tyler said.
Tyler's family was so concerned about her friends and classmates being shocked at seeing her with one arm that they held “one arm parties” and held gatherings where her friends had to play video games with one arm. They think that helped her transition back to school.
They say she is doing well.
Cox Media Group
