“It makes me feel more confident.”
High school can be challenging for any 17-year-old, especially when standing out often leads to whispers, stares, or worse—public ridicule. So, it’s understandable that Maddie Cable, a 17-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, wasn’t thrilled to hear she’d need to wear a bulky plastic brace to school for at least six weeks.
Maddie was in a car accident with her mother in November, resulting in a fractured T12 vertebra. Doctors stabilized her spine with rods and pins, and afterward, she was fitted with a large brace.
“At first, I felt very self-conscious about the brace," Cable said. Then her friend Sarah Chako had the brilliant idea of turning the bland-looking brace into a badass steampunk armor corset using metallic spray paint, gear-shaped stencils, acrylic paint, and metal framing trim. Steampunk is a sci-fi/retro style that combines futuristic steam-powered designs and American “Wild West" aesthetics.
“I enjoy wearing it now," Cable said. “It makes me feel more confident." Her mother is pleased, too. “People are initiating conversation instead of just staring," Cable's mom, Linda, told HuffPost. “She feels like they see her, and not just her injury."
Cable's story is a great example of what you can do with some creative thinking, good friends, and steampunk power. She turned a depressing situation into an opportunity to express herself.
(H/T The Mighty)
This article originally appeared seven years ago.
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