This Souderton freshman is an elite wrestler. But first, she had to grapple with a life-threatening condition.

Last in an occasional series of stories about the inaugural season of PIAA girls’ wrestling.

An unknown autoimmune condition, an uncertain future, and a girl unwilling to let any of it stop her. That is MacKenna Atkinson’s story in a nutshell.

Years before Atkinson became an elite wrestler, the Souderton High School freshman had already grown accustomed to grappling with health problems.

Now 15, Atkinson would get strep throat several times a year through grade school and middle school.

By age 8, she’d had her tonsils removed. Just a couple of years later, she spent about a week in the hospital after a lymph node in her neck swelled to nearly the size of a softball.

Her adenoids, which are lymphatic tissue at the back of the nasal passage, eventually were removed, too. And a rare kidney problem was diagnosed while she was still in elementary school.

Then in seventh grade, Atkinson developed serious breathing problems that threatened her life, terrified her parents, resulted in a still-unknown diagnosis, and made her fearful that she’d never return to the mat.

Despite still dealing with the aftermath of treatment that wreaked havoc on her body, Atkinson was dominant this season. She finished 30-5 and in March took second place in the 235-pound weight class at the inaugural PIAA girls’ wrestling championships in Hershey.

“I’ve been through so much,” Atkinson said. “It was definitely a challenge at first, but if I never overcome my fears, what am I doing all this for?”

» READ MORE: What was the first season of Pa.-sanctioned girls’ wrestling like? Let the people involved tell you.

Atkinson was at a state fair in New York in 2020 when her parents became alarmed by her breathing while she napped in their hotel room.

Her father, Chris, who also is the wrestling coach at Souderton, was concerned enough to record the scene.

“She literally stopped breathing for like 30 seconds at a time,” Chris said.

But neither snoring nor heavy breathing were new, so Atkinson’s parents weren’t overly concerned.

Her mother, Carol, joked that it was difficult to sit next to her daughter during a movie.

“It sounded like you were sitting next to Darth Vader,” Carol said with a chuckle.

Chris figured it was something akin to sleep apnea that could be resolved without much of a problem.

A subsequent sleep study in King of Prussia, however, had to be abandoned within the first 30 minutes because Atkinson’s oxygen levels were dangerously low.

Shortly thereafter, she was at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for an endoscopy under sedation.

Her parents were told that the procedure would last for a few hours, and that they could leave for lunch. Within 15 minutes, an automated text message alerted them that the procedure had ended.

The seventh grader’s airway had nearly closed.

Suddenly, their outgoing, energetic, daughter who had played multiple sports all of her life was barely breathing on her own.

“When they went to intubate her,” Carol said, “her airway was like the tip of my fingernail. They couldn’t believe she was still breathing.”

Doctors hoped steroids would reduce the inflammation they believed had caused Atkinson’s airway to close.

If that didn’t work, however, they said a tracheotomy, an incision in the windpipe used to allow air into the lungs, would be necessary.

“I’ll be honest,” Carol said, “I had to walk out of the room. I started crying …”

Her daughter’s tears weren’t far behind.

Atkinson spent 15 consecutive days in the ICU. A nurse had to be present 24/7 in case her airway closed again.

Still, isolation also took a toll.

Suddenly, the life that had kept her busy with wrestling, softball, weightlifting, and rugby stood still.

Restrictions during the pandemic also meant her siblings, who were busy with sports of their own, weren’t allowed to visit.

For the next several months of 2021, Atkinson was in and out of CHOP for tests, procedures, check-ups, and more.

For example, to make more room for her airway, doctors burned the back of her throat and adjusted the size of her tongue.

The steroids may have helped quell the inflammation, but they also caused considerable weight gain, weakened her bones, and depleted Atkinson’s energy.

“It was a whirlwind,” Carol said. “It really was.”

“It would hit anybody,” she added later. “Your life just gets flipped upside down. Our lives were flipped upside down, too. We did get her counseling.”

» READ MORE: Conwell-Egan’s Julia Horger fell back in love with wrestling after her mom started a club for girls

Eventually, Atkinson’s case was presented to children’s hospitals across the country, but a definitive diagnosis was never found.

“To me, it’s scary,” Carol said. “I get nervous when she chews and chokes on something. I think, ‘Oh my God, is that the start of it?’”

As far as they know, Atkinson’s airway has never closed outside of sleep. Her parents still worry, but they’re more confident now.

Atkinson said she bawled when the doctor first explained the seriousness of her condition. Her mind almost immediately went to the sport she’s loved since before kindergarten.

“Once they told me the bad news,” Atkinson said, “I was like, ‘Am I going to be able to wrestle again? Is it that bad that I won’t be able to breathe when I’m wrestling?’”

Atkinson eventually returned to sports a few months later, beginning with softball. Her strength and stamina had not yet returned enough for wrestling, she said.

“It was really hard for me,” Atkinson said. “I was scared to get back too soon. … I remember coloring, and my fingers would cramp. That was scary. I thought, ‘If I can’t color, how am I supposed to wrestle?’”

She missed the rest of seventh grade, and took virtual classes instead.

By that summer, though, her health was more stable and she began her comeback.

It wasn’t easy. She lost a few early matches to girls she had previously dominated.

“It was hard to take those losses, but I think it made her a better person,” Carol said. “It made her drive to get back on the mat.”

» READ MORE: This ‘sweet’ gesture helped ease her friend’s grief over missing out on the PIAA girls’ wrestling championship

Returning to school in eighth grade also was complicated by the aftermath of the medications, which increased her weight from 120 to about 200 pounds.

“I think that was the hardest part for her mentally,” Carol said.

Some friends faded away. Stronger friendships, however, also emerged. Atkinson said she was buoyed by support from the local wrestling community.

“It’s one big family,” she said. “Everybody was there for me. It was huge just knowing that so many people cared about me.”

Her family also rallied in support. Carol explained that her in-laws, Rob and JoAnn, were crucial, while she and Chris took turns staying at CHOP.

“It took a toll on not just us, but on our kids because they were scared if their sister was coming home or not,” Carol said. “Each one of them supported and helped us out.”

Atkinson’s older sister Cayley, 16, is a competitive cheerleader at Souderton. Her younger brotherm Cayden, 14, plays soccer in eighth grade. Her older brother, Thomas, 25, wrestled at Souderton and has helped coach his little sister.

Before long, Atkinson returned to her dominant ways against boys and girls. She finished third in the District 1 middle school tournament against boys, becoming the first girl to ever place.

She also won a girls’ middle school state wrestling title, a Keystone State title, and competed in the prestigious Marine Corps 16U and Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., last year, Carol said.

» READ MORE: Julissa Ortiz became the first girl to win a Public League wrestling title. She’s just getting started. | From 2023

She also excelled in competitive weightlifting, finishing 10th in a national competition in Michigan last year.

Atkinson did, however, face another setback when she broke her left wrist last year. Steroids are known for weakening bone density, her father explained. She also broke her nose during the PIAA wrestling tournament.

And yet nothing seems to stop her. Atkinson hopes to return to competitive weightlifting once her wrist, which broke near a growth plate, fully heals.

She recently finished 4-2 at the well-known Viper Pit Nationals in West Virginia. Both of her losses came against juniors.

Given the way she’s faced other obstacles in her life, those “losses” could make her even more formidable next season. That also could make her a coveted college recruit.

Her goal, for now, is to wrestle in college. She’s also curious about a career in health care, where she could help others the way she’s been helped.

Her parents marvel at how she has responded to adversity.

“I know its been hard,” her father said. “And, yeah, you see some cracks in the armor, but I think challenges and obstacles can make anybody flourish. … It’s definitely made her stronger in mind and body.”

Said Carol: “I think it shows her confidence as a human. She has a lot of little girls who look up to her, and I think that makes her want to compete even more.”

For Atkinson, perspective and perseverance seem to stand out most.

“I took so much for granted before I was sick,” she said. “Now, I’m just grateful to be a part of all of this. It makes it so much more worth it to come back out on the mat. I just want to keep achieving my goals and do better than I did last year.”