Resilience, strength define Youth of the Year, DP senior Abigaelle Caillot

Abigaelle Caillot keeps a busy schedule. The high school senior is in the Visual and Performing Arts Magnet program at Dr. Phillips High and cheers for the DPHS Panthers, and she spends time at the Levy Hughes Club, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida branch in the Parramore area of Orlando, where she lives.

This club has been her home away from home since she was 12, a place she felt safe, a place she felt she could freely share her feelings after a tragic accident killed her father when she was 10.

It also has been a place of growth for Abigaelle, now 18 — and for her perseverance and resilience, she has been named the 2019 Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida Youth of the Year. She now will participate in the state competition in April.

The program is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Orlando Foundation.

AUG. 19, 2011

Abigaelle and three of her cousins were on their way to a summer camp event. Her father, Gabriel Caillot, was behind the wheel, and one of the cousins, 11-year-old Gaeton Valceus, was in the passenger seat beside him.

Abigaelle said she remembers getting ready at her grandmother’s house and then sitting in the back seat of the car between two other cousins — but the next thing she recalls is lying in a hospital bed, fully conscious, about a week later, with a broken left femur and a broken right knee and ankle.

“Your situation doesn’t define who you are.” — Abigaelle Caillot

“So, basically, I was handicapped,” she said. “I tried to move my legs, and they wouldn’t move where I wanted them to move.”

Reports say her father lost control of his car and was struck by an SUV. The impact of the crash killed Gaeton instantly; her father died at the scene, as well. The other two cousins were seriously injured, too.

Intense and painful rehabilitation became a priority to get Abigaelle on her feet again and, after several months, back to school.

“Rehab was really tough,” she said. “I had to relearn how to walk. It was painful, and I wanted to stop, but I didn’t let that stop me from doing what I intended to do.”

HEALING THE HEART

After her rehab sessions were finished, Abigaelle joined the Boys & Girls Clubs. She became close to one counselor, who was there for dispense hugs and advice and offering a listening ear. Two years later, her counselor left for another job, but the pair have maintained their special relationship.

“She has literally been someone I can talk to openly,” Abigaelle said. “If it’s just you, yourself, handling everything, it’s just too much. Yeah, you have best friends and such, but you need someone who has gone through what you have gone through, or something similar.”

The counselor has been an important mentor and role model in Abigaelle’s life. After her father died, she experienced anxiety whenever anyone tried to get close to her, but it always was different when the two were together.

“I have high expectations of myself, and when I don’t meet those … I’m more hard on myself than anyone else. But she says, ‘It’s a minor setback. What are you going to do to get to where you need to be?’”

Giving up was not an option. Abigaelle had to push hard, not just for herself, but for her mother, Rachelle Caillot, too.

To further heal her body, she played flag football in her freshman year and joined the DP cheerleading squad in her sophomore year.

“It was like another physical therapy for me to build up my strength,” she said. “It helped when I thought I couldn’t do things. There were times I wanted to quit. The coach said, ‘You’re going to keep practicing till you get it.’”

IN THE COMPETITION

Abigaelle learned in December that she was in the running for the title of Youth of the Year for all she had overcome. The next month, she was practicing her speech and interview to prepare her for the actual competition in February.

It wasn’t easy talking about her father’s death, and she was nervous and anxious, she said.

“My youth director said, ‘No one can tell your story better than you,’ and then I calmed down. I can share my story and tell people where I was and how I came to where I am.”

The competition recognizes club members who represent the organization’s three priorities: academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles.

An awards ceremony was held last month at the Orlando Museum of Art, and Abigaelle was named Youth of the Year. She was selected from four finalists out of the more than 3,500 teenagers served by the Boys & Girls Clubs. The win comes with a $5,000 scholarship to the college of her choice.

“It’s, like, surreal,” she said. “It’s shocking in a way because, wow, my story means something to somebody else. Myself, I don’t feel like my story is that big, but, again, it can help people who have been where I have been and been through what I went through. Your situation doesn’t define who you are.”

FUTURE PLANS

It was during her physical therapy sessions that Abigaelle decided she wanted to focus on a career that helps others. She hopes to attend Howard University, in Washington, D.C., and become a nurse practitioner or neonatal nurse.

She ultimately would like to open her own practice and possibly provide healthcare in underserved countries.

She has residual pain still, but it is manageable; she has discovered her true strength through this second chance at life.