'Don’t give up’: Iowa girl who lost leg in mowing accident dances a year later

MAQUOKETA, Iowa — A 7-year-old Iowa girl lost her leg in a lawn mowing accident last year, but that has not stopped her from achieving at a high level.

>> Read more trending news

Maizie Hosch, of Maquoteka, tumbles, does musical theater and competes as part of a dance team, WQAD reported.

“Don’t give up,” Maizie told the television station.

Last Memorial Day, Maizie was playing at a friend’s house when she went down a slide and into the path of a lawn mower.

“I was going down the slide so my leg slid under it,” Maizie told WQAD.

A friend alerted the girl’s mother, Chrissy Hosch, who rushed to the house.

Meet Maizie Hosch. A resilient little girl who has faced more challenges in a year than some of us face our entire lives after her leg got run over by a lawnmower too close to the playground. https://t.co/VHdM9w9haO
— WQAD (@wqad) April 29, 2020

“When I got there, half her leg was gone and two toes on her other foot,” Chrissy Hosch told the television station.

Amid the chaos, Hosch said her daughter had just one question: “Am I going to be able to dance again?"

"That’s all she was worried about,” Hosch told WQAD.

As it turned out, Maizie’s determination to dance again came true. She is competing in gymnastics and the dance team with the help of a prosthetic leg, the television station reported.

“She’s very inspirational, I’d say,” Hosch said.

Maizie does have some advice for kids at play -- and, their parents.

“Make sure your kids go inside before you start mowing, and make sure you keep your eyes on them so they can’t get out,” she told WQAD.

“Just know your surroundings. It’s the best way to do it,” Hosch added.