Christus Chief Operating Officer Anne Pileggi

McKenzie Coan was born with a broken femur. A few days later, while her mother was burping her, the newborn’s arm broke.

Coan was diagnosed with Osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bones disease, when she was 19 days old.

“It’s a genetic condition and it causes brittle or weak bones that often break for little to no reason,” Coan said. “I’ve broken bones just folding laundry before. “I’ve broken bones pretty much sitting around, sitting down before, so it really doesn’t take much.”

Doctors told Coan’s parents she would never be able to walk, crawl or even hold her head up.

That was 27 years ago, and now, she is a four-time Paralympic gold medalist and a nine-time World Champion as a swimmer. Coan was in Tyler on Saturday to share her story with East Texans at Christus Health’s “Lunch with an Olympian” as part of the Junior League of Tyler’s “Girl Power” event.

“One of the most important things that you need to do when you’re young is get moving,” Coan said.

Under the advice of a physical therapist, Coan began to take swimming lessons as part of aqua therapy. At 4 years old, she was enamored with the sense of freedom the water gave her.

“It was a safer space for me to move around and not be afraid to fall or fracture,” Coan said.

It wasn’t before long that her time in the kiddie pools turned into doing laps in a bigger pool. Soon, she had ambitions.

“I was approached at a swim meet by two officials who officiated in the Paralympic movement,” Coan said. “And they told me about it and I go, ‘Oh! The Olympics, I love the Olympics!’ And they go ‘No, the Paralympics, meaning parallel to the Olympic Games, the same elite level sporting competition for people with physical impairments.’ And that’s when I heard about it.”

At 8 years old, she joined a local Paralympic chapter in her small town in Georgia and went from there.

“I never looked back,” Coan said. “I moved up the ranks. I made my first emerging team, the national team and then eventually the Paralympic Games.”

By the time she was 11, she qualified for Paralympic Trials as the youngest competitor at the meet. After just missing making the US Paralympic Team for the 2008 Beijing Games — a few hundredths of a second — the young swimmer devoted the next four years leading up to the next Paralympics by practicing six to seven days a week.

Fast forward four years to 2012, she qualified for 2012 London Games by 0.11 of a second in the 400m freestyle — which happened to be on her 16th birthday.

“Dreams are decided by one-tenth of a second,” Coan said. “There may have been more hard moments than easy ones but you have to take the time to walk away and process it. And try again.”

At her first Paralympic Games, Coan made it to finals, leaving with a 6th place finish. Looking ahead to the next Games, she wanted to spend the next four years preparing to not only re-qualify, but to make it to the podium for Team USA.

In 2016, she qualified for five events for the Rio Games and placed four times.

“I get emotional thinking about it because growing up, I had always seen other people who had the American flag caps with their last name under them competing for our country,” Coan said. “I always dreamed that it would be me. So when I got the chance to put that on… to go out and something so much bigger than myself, I still get goosebumps when I think about it.”

In addition to excelling in swimming, Coan also exceeds academically. To focus more on her Paralympic trials, Coan opted for a hybrid schooling setting where she could attend classes in-person when she could, as well as online learning.

“I felt that when I was in high school, I’m in my prime and thought this is the time to improve,” Coan said.

“In addition to traveling the world and traveling the country and swimming, I’ve also had to deal with broken bones,” Coan said. “I’ve competed numerous times with fractures. I train through fractures.”

When Coan experiences a broken bone, she usually sits out for a day or two.

“I take very little time before I’m back in the water again because I know that I would never want my brittle bone disease to find me or stop me from living my life,” Coan said. “So I’m very determined to not allow it to get in the way of my dreams or my routine. So a lot of times I’m back in. If I have a broken shoulder or a broken arm, I’ll kick. If I have a broken leg, I’ll just focus on pulling. So for me, it’s all about perspective and taking a deep breath in and looking at the situation and saying… I’ve got this, Even if things are hard, I’m not going to let this define me one bit.”

Coan recalled her most memorable moment as a swimmer when she was swimming for the Rio trial in 2016 and unknowingly broke two of her ribs while attempting a backstroke start.

“It really felt like I had the wind knocked out of me,” she said.

Not wanting to sit out for the trials, she put on a brave face and told no one — not even her parents.

“I deserve an Oscar for that performance,” she said, laughing. “But I had to get creative. I didn’t want this to stop me… there’s always a way, it may not always be fun but I couldn’t can’t let anyone see me in pain. I couldn’t let this define me.”

In the end, she won three gold medals and a silver at the Rio games.

If she’s not busy swimming, she’s at home with her dogs and studying for LSATs, as her ambition is to become a lawyer, advocating for civil and disability rights. And preparing for the 2024 Paralympic games in Paris.

“I am meant to swim. I am blessed to do it,” Coan said.

Coan’s appearance comes from a collaboration between Christus Mother Frances Hospital and the Junior League of Tyler.

“It’s for sixth grade girls… we teach them about their opportunities in life, what’s available to them and really try to encourage them and empower them,” said Anne Pileggi, chief operating officer, Christus Mother Frances Hospital.

This is the third year of the partnership.

“We have been able to bring in an Olympic-level female athlete to speak to the girls and to the community about their experiences and how they got through their trials and tribulations,” Pileggi said. “And McKenzie is our first Paralympic… and she has been absolutely amazing.”

Coan spoke at the Girl Power summit at UT Tyler University Center and then traveled to Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute on Broadway to speak to the community, where she was interviewed by Pileggi and then participated in a question and answer session.

“She was just so very easy because she’s very down to earth,” Pileggi said. “She was so personable in sharing details of her personal life as well as her training and her education. She was such a delight.”