Athletes United pitcher Taylor McQuillin never let health issues beat her on the field
CHICAGO (CBS) — Taylor McQuillin has been playing softball since she was 7 years old.
She'd already undergone five surgeries by then to try to help repair her vision and partial hearing loss due to Duane Syndrome, a rare disorder she was born with.
"I am pretty much as close to completely blind, legally blind in the left eye, as you can get," she said. "I can see shadows but have no peripheral vision, can only see this way, but I think it's because I can see from the right eye in this direction. I've never known what it's like to live with vision in both eyes, so because of that, this is my normal."
What Taylor has accomplished since is anything but normal.
She helped Arizona to a College World Series appearance in 2019 before being drafted to play in the National Pro Fastpitch League. She was also a member of the Mexican national team.
But before Taylor threw a pitch with Athletes Unlimited, life threw another obstacle at her. Severe headaches led to multiple doctor visits and a diagnosis of blood clots in the brain.
"Including the time I was in the hospital, I wasn't allowed to do anything for like two months total," she said. "I only had like a month to throw bullpens again and get ready to go to show up here, and it definitely reflected in my performance. Feeling extremely weak, not being used to all the different types of medication. Now, we're not just worried about vision. Now we're worried about a brain bleed because of the medication that I'm taking."
Taylor continues to take blood thinners to regulate the blood clots, but she pushes through to play the sport she loves.
"Thinking that I wasn't going to be able to play professionally anymore because of how hard the seasons were, and this is the Olympic roster, and I knew I was going to have to fight to get on it. And that was going to probably be my career; at that point, my only thought process was finishing my career to the best of my abilities," she said. "When the doctors were like, 'It's a you call,' I'm like, 'OK, we're doing it.'"
Taylor has spent the last five summers playing professionally in Rosemont, calling Chicago her home away from home.
The impact the California native makes on people every time she pitches is truly unlimited.
"Learning how to manage myself and manage a team collectively was not easy, and it is challenging. So I commend every person has done it and the people that have yet to do it that are going to be doing it. It's definitely a process, but I feel like I'm in a good headspace. My goal is to be an inspiration to kids with disabilities or kids with minor impairment that still feel like they're able to play the sport and be somebody," she said.