MUSKOGEE, Okla. — By most accounts, it was a “typical” junior year for Annie Miller. That’s until spring break, when she suffered a spinal cord injury during a ski trip. She’s now paralyzed from the chest down.
“We didn’t think she was going to live,” said Holly Rosser-Miller, Annie’s mom. Rosser-Miller sat by her through months of recovery in Colorado. At the time, she never dreamed that five months after returning home she’d star in Muskogee High School’s annual musical. This year it’s “Emma: a Pop Musical.”
“To see her at school thriving, singing and dancing with her friends is a real blessing,” Rosser-Miller said.
Annie said there were times she didn’t want to get back on stage because it reminded her of what she lost. However, she was determined to continue to do what she loves.
Annie credits her friends and classmates for making it all possible, including help with wardrobe changes.
“That was definitely a whole new experience,” she said. “Quick changes are hard even if you’re not in a wheelchair.”
Penny McGill, Muskogee High School’s theatre instructor, said they picked this show specifically for Annie before the accident happened last year.
“That didn’t change anything,” McGill said. “The only thing that did change is our mindset and what the set is going to look like.”
As usual, the students design and build the sets. For “Emma,” they added a wheelchair lift so that Annie could make it to the platform level.
As with any musical, there’s more to Annie’s story than song and dance. There’s also a message. For her, it’s about hard work, positivity and the determination to get back to being a normal girl living her best senior year.
“What happened to me, sucks,” she said. “It’s terrible and I just want to make the best of it.”
“No matter what happens you can still do anything you want to do,” she said. “It’s the getting up and finding happy things in life that keep you going.”
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
