Eighteen-Year-Old Shriners Children’s Patient Aiming for Future Paralympic Games

When she was 13 months old, Keira was told she would never walk.

When she was 20 months old, Keira was diagnosed with one of the rarest forms of polio, bulbospinal, a type that only 0.001% of all polio patients are diagnosed with. Now 18 years old, the Shriners Children’s St. Louis and Chicago patient is not only walking, but has had major success in para archery and is aiming for the 2028 Paralympics. After countless visits, many surgeries and physical and occupational therapy treatments with the nonprofit healthcare system, the teen said she’s ready to accomplish this next life goal.

Throughout her childhood, Keira has worked to overcome the challenges of bulbospinal polio, which has affected the entire right side of her body. During her physical therapy treatments when she was 12, her Shriners Children’s physical therapists recommended she try swimming to help with pain and to get exercise. From there, Keira’s love for sports grew exponentially. She started competing in various disciplines and has now tried track and field, powerlifting, rock climbing, snow skiing, water skiing, golfing, air rifle and scuba diving. However, it was archery that became Keira’s true love.

“It’s been a dream of mine as long as I can remember to make it to the Paralympics,” Keira said. “It keeps me striving to be the best I can be. Through archery and all the sports I’ve competed in, I hope I can inspire others to never hold back on trying what you want to do. You could try something that you think at first you might not be interested in, then it becomes your true love. I love sports in general because it gives me that determination and strength to help build myself not only physically but also mentally.”

When she was 6, the movie Brave inspired her, and she started her archery journey by shooting a plastic bow at a screen door from just a few feet away. Her love for archery continued, and Keira’s relationship with Shriners Children’s went beyond medical visits. The Shriners Moolah YOMO group built Keira’s archery stool that she leans against when she’s on the line aiming at the target. “It helps to stabilize me,” Keira said. “My legs are a little weak so the stool keeps me from swaying on the line. Archery takes a lot of self-discipline, precision and surprisingly, mental strength. If you start getting sidetracked on the line, it can mess up your whole round.”

Flash forward to present day, and Keira has won 17 gold medals in archery and placed top 10 in the 2023 Chicago Para-Archery Championship, an event against competitors of all ages from around the world. Keira is the current youngest female classified para archer in the world, and she has three qualifying events through April and May to make it to the 2024 Paralympics. However, the U.S. archery team does not currently have any slots open for the 2024 Paralympics in the compound open women’s division, the division that Keira competes in. So, she said she has her eyes set on the 2028 Games.