High school is tough enough for the average 17-year-old girl. Anyone who stands out is a target for whispers and hushed laughter in the hallways or, even worse, in public.
That’s why Maddie Cable, 17, from Charlotte, North Carolina, was less than enthusiastic after being told she needed to wear a large plastic brace to school for at least six weeks.
Cable was in a car accident with her mother in November 2015, and she fractured her T12 vertebrae , or the twelfth thoracic vertebra in the spine. After doctors stabilized it with rods and pins, Maddie was fitted with the massive brace.
Maddie Cable stands with aid of walker and plastic brace.
“At first, I felt very self-conscious about the brace,” Cable told Buzzfeed . Then her friend Sarah Chako had the brilliant idea of turning the bland-looking brace into a badass steampunk armor corset using metallic spray paint, gear-shaped stencils, acrylic paint, and metal framing trim. Steampunk is a sci-fi/retro style that combines futuristic steam-powered designs and American “Wild West” aesthetics.