HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-03-14, Page 2PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.
Blyth’s Mikayla Ansley wouldn’t
let travel woes or a severe fever stop
her from performing on the biggest
stage of her life: reciting her
world’s-best peace essay at Lions
Day at the United Nations in New
York City.
Last month, Ansley’s essay,
entitled “Kindness Matters”, was
named the best in the world by Lions
Clubs International. In addition to a
trophy and a trip to New York City to
speak at the United Nations, she also
took home a cash prize of $5,000
U.S. for her efforts.
After a mad dash to get Ansley a
passport in just a few weeks, Ansley
and her parents, Katie and Mike,
travelled to New York on Thursday
alongside John and Mary Lou
Stewart from the Blyth Lions Club.
Their first flight was cancelled and
their second flight would eventually
be delayed a number of hours, but
they arrived Thursday evening and
took Friday to see the city, with the
Ansleys taking an eight-hour bus
tour of Manhattan while the Stewarts
struck out on their own.
Then, on Saturday morning,
Mikayla woke up with a fever,
feeling very, very sick just hours
before the family was due to arrive at
the United Nations headquarters.
Mikayla, however, knew that she
had to power through her illness and
speak for hundreds of Lions Club
members who had come from all
over the world to be part of Lions
Day at the United Nations.
“All I can say is, ‘wow’,” Mikayla
said as she addressed the crowd that
day. “I never imagined that writing
that essay would lead me to where I
am sitting right now.”
She went on to thank a number of
people who helped her along the
way, including Lions Clubs
International, the Blyth Lions Club,
the Stewarts and her parents.
“I give many thanks to the
International Lions Club for pointing
out this amazing opportunity and
choosing my essay and being
awesome and helping young legally
blind or blind people like me have an
opportunity to have a voice and to do
something amazing,” she said.
After Ansley spoke to all in
attendance, she recited her essay and
received a standing ovation from all
of the Lions Club members.
John said that Mikayla was the star
of the event as, once it concluded,
Lions members from all over the
world wanted to come meet her,
speak with her and take a picture
with her.
Mikayla said she even received an
invitation to speak in Arizona at a
special Leo Club day, addressing
youth volunteers in the United
States.
In an interview after her trip,
Mikayla said it was an amazing
experience to be able to reach so
many people with her message of
kindness. However, because she was
feeling so sick, once Lions Day at
the United Nations was over, all she
wanted to do was return to the hotel
and go to sleep.
Katie and Mike both said they
were amazed to see how well
Mikayla performed, considering
how sick she was.
Mikayla went from literally
resting with her head on her arm
with sweat running down her face to
speaking eloquently and gracefully
to a room of hundreds of men and
women from all over the world.
Katie said she was initially
concerned about Mikayla’s speech
when she told her parents that she
wanted to “wing it” instead of
preparing notes. She did practise
what she wanted to say a few times,
but she was one of the only speakers
that day who addressed the crowd
without the help of notes.
John said that from his vantage
point – he sat beside Mikayla as she
presented – there wasn’t a dry eye in
the house once she was done reading
her essay.
The Stewarts said they were
extremely proud of Mikayla,
watching her speak to hundreds of
people, including Lions Clubs
International President Gudrun
Yngvadottir of Iceland, on such a big
stage. They agreed that it was
amazing to see a young girl from
Blyth who has not had an easy path
in life being named the world’s best
at the United Nations in New York.
Katie and Mike agreed, saying it
was a very special feeling to watch
their daughter, after all she’s been
through, do what she did that day.
In many ways, Katie said, the
Lions Club has shaped who Mikayla
is, so it was fitting that she would be
presented this opportunity through
the Lions.
When Mikayla was first diagnosed
with bilateral retinoblastoma, a rare
form of ocular cancer that caused her
to lose her left eye and most of the
vision in her right, it was the Blyth
Lions Club that truly stepped up and
helped the family in its time of need.
Katie said that she wasn’t working
in order to be with Mikayla and
Mike was only working part-time
before the company he worked for
went bankrupt and both parents were
without jobs at a time when their
daughter was having to travel for
treatment on a regular basis.
While the Ansleys were living in
Kitchener at the time, it was the
Blyth Lions Club that stepped up
and held a huge fundraiser for the
family, which went a long way to
ensuring financial stability for them
at a very unstable time.
Furthermore, Katie said, it has
been the Blyth Lions Club that has
given Mikayla the opportunity to
find her voice through public
speaking, leading her to win at the
provincial level and compete against
some truly great speakers over the
years.
Mikayla has become a truly great
public speaker in recent years, Katie
said, and she owes much of that
success to the Lions Club.
“She wouldn’t be who she is
without the Lions Club,” Katie said.
“They really molded her and gave
her the confidence to know that she’s
a great public speaker.”
Before the Ansleys left New York,
the Lions asked Mikayla to be part
of a special filmed interview on
Sunday morning. There, she detailed
a little bit about herself and she read
her essay so it could be broadcast
around the world.
On a sight-seeing note, Mikayla
and her family said they were very
impressed with New York City.
Mikayla said her favourite
attractions were Times Square and
the Statue of Liberty.
The Blyth Lions Club is planning
a special open house for Mikayla
and her family, hopefully sometime
in April. Keep reading The Citizen
for updates on that event.
Ansley impresses hundreds at United Nations
Taking Blyth on the road
Mikayla Ansley, centre, was in New York City over the weekend as part of Lions Day at the
United Nations, reciting her world’s-best peace essay, entitled “Kindness Matters”. Mikayla’s
parents, Mike and Katie, left, and John and Mary Lou Stewart of the Blyth Lions Club, right,
accompanied Mikayla on the trip – the first time any of the Blyth residents had been to
Manhattan. To read “Kindness Matters” by Mikayla Ansley, see page three. (Photo submitted)
Awarded
Mikayla Ansley, right, seen here with her mother Katie,
received her award for the world’s best peace essay over
the weekend in Manhattan. (Photo submitted)
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