KALISPELL — For Kalispell resident Brenna Huckaby, the road to the Paralympics has been a long but fulfilling one. Born in Louisiana, she was a skilled gymnast before cancer changed the trajectory of her life.
"When I was 14 I lost my leg to Osteosarcoma," Huckaby said.
To save her life, Huckaby's leg was amputated. But instead of giving up sports, she used the skills gained from gymnastics to pick up snowboarding.
"One thing that gymnastics had given me because I was at a high level, was just the body awareness, the balance, air awareness and the strength. Because I had all of those skills that are pretty hard to teach people, I picked up snowboarding pretty quickly," Huckaby said.
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Huckaby's career has been immensely successful, debuting in the 2018 Pyeongchang Paralympics and later competing at the 2022 Beijing Games.
"I have won three golds and a bronze so far, hopefully adding more," Huckaby said.
Her path to success led her to the Flathead Valley, where she found a welcoming community in Kalispell.
"The community that we had landed in reminded me so much of home in Louisiana. People were just talkative and open, we just really loved that," Huckaby said.
With so many places to train in the Flathead, Huckaby is ready for the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan. But this year, instead of only chasing medals, she also wants to take in every inch of the experience.
"I have three main pillars of how I want these games to go for me. I want to be authentically myself, which means I'm going to have fun and enjoy every moment that I can. I want it to be memorable, and I want to be competitive. So just because I'm having fun doesn't mean that I don't want to show up as my best self as an athlete. But, if I keep it fun, keep it memorable, and I do my best as an athlete, I don't really care where I land, I am just enjoying the moment," Huckaby said.
At the end of the day, Huckaby wants people to take away one thing from her career.
"So much is outside of your control. But what we can control is how we show up for ourselves in the present moment and more importantly is how we show up for others," Huckaby said.
