The Tale o' the One-Legged Cheerleader

[Harry Hirsute]

DENVER – If you ask her, 18-year-old Lacey Henderson will answer all questions honestly, including what happened to her leg.
"I'm not afraid of it. I'm not ashamed of it. It doesn't slow me down," she said.

Growing up in Denver, Henderson was a little girl who always asked questions.

"I would ask why the moon would be in a different place in the sky," she said.

When she was 9 years old, there was a question she couldn't answer: why did her leg hurt?

"My teacher started noticing that I couldn't walk on my right leg at all," she said. "I took an MRI and they saw it was a tumor."

The tumor, located in her kneecap, was cancerous.

"I told them I'd rather be alive and have one leg, than die," said Henderson.

Her right leg was amputated six inches above the knee, changing her life forever. 9NEWS first met Henderson in 2004 as part of 9Kids Who Care.

"I have some days when I'll just be like, 'You know, I wish I could just walk out of bed,'" she said.

But Henderson says she is not to be pitied. Some might even envy her. That's because she is a college cheerleader at the University of Denver.

When her mother brought up the idea during her freshman year of high school, Henderson says she was apprehensive.

"I was like, 'I don't know Mom. I don't know if they want to see a one-legged cheerleader," she said.

Insecurity eventually gave way to inspiration. Henderson made the team and eventually worked her way up to captain.

"I just loved the way it felt!" she said.

Before she had even arrived at DU, word had gotten around.

"Little did she know, I'd already seen her. We scouted her because I judged the state cheerleading competition," said Julie Haines, the DU cheerleading coach.

So out of 60 wannabes, Henderson made the team.

"She went through the tryouts like anyone else," said Haines.

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