SOUTHWICK – What started as a difficult injury experience for a Southwick Regional School senior and lifelong dancer eventually ended in a story of perseverance and a backstage appearance on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Bridget Carrier first suffered her first knee dislocation while dancing in the fall of 2020, when she was 12 years old, and began therapy and rehab at Shriners Children’s New England. Bridget’s mother, Erin, told the Westfield News that from the beginning of her recovery journey, she made clear to the team at Shriners that her daughter was an athlete that needed to be treated as such during her recovery process.

“We said to the staff there and the doctor that Bridget is an elite athlete. People misunderstand dancers. They think of them as little girls in tights, and it’s cut

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