Fifteen-year-old McKenze Messman was living every teenager’s dream during the summer of 2015. The soon-to-be freshman at Waverly High School in Waverly, Nebraska, was spending her days at the pool, waterskiing on nearby Johnson Lake, and going to cheerleading practice three times a week after landing a spot on the varsity team.
“I was having so much fun,” McKenze, now 17, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue out Friday. “I couldn’t wait for what was next.”
But just three days into the school year, life as McKenze knew it would never be the same. What started off as small allergic reactions that would send her to the nurse’s office, soon turned severe and life-threatening. During the next three weeks, she went into anaphylactic shock seven times and was rushed to the emergency room.
