There’s nothing typical about this 13-year-old from Newcastle, NSW.
Sabre Norris is a talented surfer and skateboarder and has dreams of making it pro. But her dreams aren’t regular kid dreams. She is onto something.
In 2016, Sabre at age 11 received a wildcard entry into the Sydney International Women’s Surf Pro.
Her qualification meant she was interviewed by Today in a clip that quickly went viral after Sabre, speaking about her father, former Olympic swimmer Justin Norris, said: “he was an athlete but now he’s gotten fat”.
From there, she appeared on The Ellen Show and handled the international attention like a trooper.
Next, she plans on qualifying for the 2020 Olympics for skateboarding and – if her much-loved Instagram videos are anything to go by – she’s a definite contender.
But this go-getter Aussie hero is facing something much more terrifying right now than big waves and concrete skate ramps.
Towards the end of last year, Sabre’s parents noticed she’d stopped growing. Doctors found there was swelling on her brain and, after several scans, she’s now been diagnosed with a condition called Chiari malformation, Fairfax reports.
Chiari malformation is a condition in which the base of the skull doesn’t have room to accommodate the base of the brain – the brain stem and cerebellum.
According to the Victorian Brain and Spine Centre, this causes the cerebellum and lower brain stem to compress into the spinal cord canal, leading to headaches, neck pain, and difficulty controlling movement.
Top Comments
I love you sabre and your siblings . Cathmeknuckles