Everyday activities such as standing to pour a bowl of cereal or walking around school used to be a struggle for senior Majestic dancer Jayme Allen. Temporarily confined to a wheelchair when she was younger, Allen was born with accessory navicular bones in her feet.

“It looked as if I had an extra anklebone, but it was in the middle of my arch,” Allen said. “I also would roll in on it when I would walk and so it caused a lot of pain. I couldn’t really stand up for long periods of time.”

It was not until sixth grade however that her family finally took her to a doctor to try and fix the problem, but nobody could say what was wrong.

“There was one doctor that told me all you need to do was jump on the trampoline more; he was crazy,” Allen said.

Finally her family found a doctor that knew what was wrong and, most importantly, how to fix it. She had major reconstructive foot surgery to remove the extra bones from her feet.  In addition, her Achilles tendons were lengthened and cadaver bones were put in on the sides of her feet to give her an arch and keep her from rolling in on her feet. The recovery time per foot was a month in a wheelchair, a month on crutches, two months in a walking boot and another two months where she had to wear tennis shoes with orthotics in them to support her feet.

“I wasn’t allowed to walk barefoot on my foot for 6 months,” Allen said.

It was only after she had both of her surgeries that Allen began to dance.

“I actually hadn’t done any sort of dancing at all before my feet because I couldn’t even walk around the school without being in a lot of pain,” Allen said.

However, at her first sight of the Majestics, Allen knew exactly what she wanted to do, and became determined to reach her goal.

“I was in my wheelchair in sixth grade and I went to one of the football games and I saw the Majestics, and I was like ‘I could do that now’,” Allen said.  “It was then when I was in the wheelchair that I decided that I wanted to try out for Majestics, and so once I was recovered and my feet were working better then I started taking dance lessons.  I tried out my freshman year and I made it. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m really glad I was able to have that opportunity.”

Looking at Allen’s dancing now and how far she has come, it is hard for many to believe what she went through with her feet.

“I did not know she had previously had problems with her feet when she began dancing in Pre-Dance or Majestics,” Majestics director Fela Lowrance said.  “I can not think of a specific time that I ever thought her feet were a problem in Majestics.”

While the Majestics have been a big part of her life for several years, the team took on an even bigger role a year ago as Allen had to deal with losing her mother to cancer.

It was January 9, 2013, when Allen’s mother told her that she had a hamburger sized tumor on her liver.

“They weren’t sure if it was cancer or not, but they would be able to take it out,” Allen said. “Doing so, they would have to take out almost half of her liver, but luckily it would regenerate although it was going to be a long and difficult recovery.”

The Tuesday after her surgery, the family’s worst nightmare became a reality. Allen’s mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and it had already spread to other parts of her body.

“We found out that the tumors had probably been growing for about two years,” Allen said.  “I have a little sister that turned two in October, which means that she has had cancer since before she was even pregnant with my younger sister, so she is kind of a miracle baby.”

Unfortunately just a couple of days later, her mom became sick and passed away in the hospital, forcing Allen to take on a new role in her family.

“It was a lot of pressure on her to step up and become the motherly figure for her family, especially because she has so many younger siblings [4],” junior Kinsey Smith said. “I think she did an amazing job and it really made me realize how strong she truly is. Everyday she’s just this beautiful example of how it’s possible to take matters into your own hands and make the most of it. Like her mom, Jayme has a special ability to lift others up and it really inspires me.”

Through that tough time, the Majestics were a rock for Allen; they were always there for her and even held a team prayer for her mom the day of the surgery.

“One of the aspects I love most about the Majestics is the sorority of sisterhood,” Lowrance said.  “No doubt, Jayme’s Majestic friends encouraged her through the rough times.  Our program is very much like an “extended family” – the girls are definitely there for one another when they need to be.”

Not only did the Majestics lift Allen up with their encouragement, but they also made her a special gift for homecoming this year.

“Me and my mom cut a spool of white ribbon together early January, and Mrs. Habib saved that spool and had Lilli mark my moms initials, TA, on each ribbon that me and my mom had cut together,” Allen said. “Then they made my mum as a gift for me using only those ribbons, and then put one ribbon on each of the senior Majestics mums, then gave us the rest to put on my sister’s senior mums when they’re in high school.”

Back when she was in a wheelchair, nobody could have predicted that Allen would be part of an award winning dance team.  Yet for all that dance has brought to Allen, the Majestics have offered something much more important.

“With just everything that I’ve been through, Majestics has been there for me,” Allen said.  “I’m so grateful for everything they’ve done for me.”