LAGRANGE, Ohio — On the track is where 18-year-old Aubrey Cindia feels at home.
"When you clear new heights and set new PRs, it's just the best feeling in the world," Aubrey said.
It's taken a lot of power, strength, and determination to get here; something Aubrey has shown since she was a little girl.
"She always loved ballet," Aubrey's mom, Jamie Bolek, said. "She did hip hop. She did everything — tap, contemporary."
"I liked performing," Aubrey recalled of dancing. "I liked being on stage. I loved the music."
She was a natural on her toes, until it became tough to stay on them.
"She did great with turns and then she struggled," Jamie remembered.
It wasn't just her form that was off — it was her spine. Aubrey had scoliosis, and it was serious.
"In a year, her curve had went from 20 to 28 (degrees)" Jamie said. "We went to the surgeon and he said, 'We're at the point something needs to be done. She needs to start wearing a brace.'"
So Aubrey did, wearing it all day and night starting at just 9 years old.
"She would have sores on her hips and stuff. When she would wake up, she would have to wear it in school, and kids just aren't kind at that age," Jamie recalled.
The thing about Aubrey, though, is that she doesn't give up easily.
"She played volleyball, too. And then she got into track," Jamie said.
"I started off in the 400 and then I started transitioning into high jump, which was hard because of my back," Aubrey said.
She is a true fighter, just like her biggest hero.
"My husband had been at that point diagnosed with a ALS, a hundred percent terminal disease," Jamie said.
On borrowed time, the family went to California to cherish what would be their last vacation together. They weren't prepared for what came next.
"Aubrey was in her bathing suit and she bent over and I could just see her rib hump was like that. I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, something's wrong,'" Jamie remembered.
They knew surgery was unavoidable. But it would mean the end of her dance and track dreams.
"Her life wouldn't have been the same," Jamie said.
Then Aubrey's doctor, Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Ryan Goodwin presented a new surgical option called vertebral body tethering.
"Traditionally, patients with severe scoliosis required a fusion operation to fuse all the bones together to treat their scoliosis. Whereas now with VBT, we're able to do so and harness the patient's growth and not have to fuse the bones together so they can continue to be mobile," Goodwin explained.
But Aubrey was hesitant.
"I did not want surgery. And I sat there and he mentioned this new surgery that I'd never heard of. I was like, 'Well, would I be able to dance?' And he's like, 'Yes.' And I'm like, 'Would I be able to do back bends?' He's like, 'Yes.' And I'm like, 'High jump?' He's like, 'Yes.' He's like, 'You can do everything,'" Aubrey said of her conversation with Dr. Goodwin.
Soon, it was surgery day and Aubrey had just one request: That her dad, Scott, escort her back to the OR.
"He was back there when they put her to sleep and everything and he got to be there and be her strength for that," Jamie said.
Strength, he'd keep sharing, well into her recovery.
"He played the biggest part in me getting through that for sure. Seeing the stuff that he went through and how he just ... he fought ALS like an absolute champion and he did not let that drag him down," Aubrey remembered of her dad.
"Scott was always like our strength. And even with what he was going through, knowing he was getting so much worse at that point, he was already in a power wheelchair, struggling to breathe ... it makes you appreciate every breath that you take," Jamie said.
Then, just one month later, Scott passed.
"I think he let himself go as soon as he knew we would be okay, but at the point when he passed, she was still struggling a little bit with recovery and I think that pushed her to try harder and get better for him and to live her life every day like its your last," Jamie said.
So that's what Aubrey did. Only weeks after surgery, she was back on pointe shoes.
"Her turns improved. She was straight, her balance was way better. And right after that she said, 'I want to do track again, Mom,'" Jamie said.
And she didn't stop there. Aubrey pushed herself to become a top high jumper at Keystone High School.
"She made it to regionals and every year after that she made it to state. In one of those years, she even made the podium state," Jamie said.
Aubrey is heading to the University of Bridgeport in the fall to compete as a heptathlete.
"With seven screws and a tether in her spine ... it's like a miracle. And she worked hard for it though. It's not a miracle. She worked hard for that," Jamie said.
No matter where Aubrey's path takes her next, she'll always find ways to inspire others to reach for their dreams, the way her dad still inspires her ... each and every day.
"I feel like I'm a lot more appreciative of what I have and my capabilities as a person and athlete physically and emotionally. Seeing what my dad went through and seeing how I was recovering and seeing where I am now? I'm just more grateful for what I have," Aubrey said.
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