Alex Harden attends Canyon View High School and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

A fractured skull. A brain bleed. A nine-day medically induced coma. The doctors told then-freshman Mackenzie Perals’ mother they didn’t know whether she would ever wake up — let alone walk. Playing soccer again was an impossibility.

Peral had other plans.

Mackenzie was riding an electric scooter when she fell, hitting her head on the ground. After her grandma called 911, Peral was transported by ambulance to Phoenix Children’s Hospital where she was taken into emergency brain surgery. 

The first surgery was followed by nine days in a medically induced coma, followed by a second surgery two days later due to brain swelling where the doctors removed part of her skull. 

While she was in the coma, doctors told Peral's parents that they were unsure if she would ever wake up again, and even if she did, the crash had affected the left hemisphere of her brain, causing issues with reading, writing, walking, and talking.

Fortunately, Mackenzie did wake up.

She remembers being able to talk, but said it was more like a “robot talk” because she couldn’t fully process what was going on around her. That lasted for several more days.

“The initial feeling was, of course, why did this happen to me?” Peral said. “What if I could never play soccer again, or go back to school, or be able to understand what people are saying? I was very upset. I was having nightmares because of what happened. It was the worst feeling in the world”

The doctors initially thought she would be in the hospital for six months, but she was able to get out in thirty days. 

Once Peral began to truly recover and heal, the process became very rewarding. Her family credits a big part of her recovery to coach Leticia Robles and the rest of the Canyon View girls soccer program. As soon as coach Robles found out about the accident, she was at the hospital frequently, comforting both Mackenzie and her mother.

"Mackenzies’ parents were such a big mess I felt so bad, but I was like we have to do whatever we can," coach Robles said.

Robles then had the tough task of telling the team what had happened the next day. After she informed them the news, they were all constantly at the hospital, using sounds and sensory stimuli to try and stimulate Peral's brain.

Miraculously these sounds and feelings began to work, and the doctors started seeing brain activity where there had previously been none. Eventually, Peral opened her eyes and began to truly recover.

Although Peral was unable to return to school during her freshman year, she rejoined her class as a sophomore, determined to try out for the soccer team.

“I tried out and I thought that I made the team, but we were worried I was going to get hurt again," Peral said. “I was obviously very upset. I thought I wasn’t ever going to be able to play again.”

For Peral, soccer is deeply personal after first being introduced to the game by her grandfather. After learning that she wasn’t going to play her sophomore year, Peral didn’t give up on the sport she loved. Instead, she stayed involved by becoming a team manager and doing anything she could to help the team.

Now a high school junior at Canyon View High School, Peral is the leading scorer for the JV soccer team, a standout student in the classroom, and an inspiration to those who know her story.

“My family told me everyone is here for a reason and clearly it wasn’t my time yet,” Peral said. “That gave me the confidence to overcome what I was dealing with.”