Northland cheerleader Grace Hegh is flying high with doctors' clearance to tumble again after fearing her dream of competing in the US may have been shattered by an accident.
The 11-year-old cheerleader was at her fundraising event last November when the wind picked up the inflatable track she had been tumbling on and flicked her tiny 29kg frame over a car and head-first on to concrete. Her mother, Andrea Hegh, remembers looking up from the boot of her car to see Grace flying over her head.
Grace was rushed to Whangarei Hospital with a head injury that required stitches, a sprained hip and a dislodged growth plate in her elbow.
Five weeks later, aided by intense physio and strength conditioning, she's been cleared by doctors to tumble again. She is continuing to raise funds to get to the All Star Games in Las Vegas in April.
"Last week was the first week she was back to being Grace with a sparkle in her eye," Mrs Hegh said. "We are definitely full steam ahead for the All Star Games. We've never taken her mind off them as it would have crushed her."