After losing right arm, cake decorator learns her art all over again

When Kaylyn McGuyrt’s ATV hit a mud puddle and flipped, she instinctively put out her right arm to catch her fall. Her first thought was: “How am I going to hold this thing up? It’s heavy.”

Then she realized the off-road vehicle had sliced off her right arm below the elbow. Her thoughts turned immediately to her dream career as a cake decorator.

“I was on the ground thinking, ‘I’m literally never going to be able to do my job again,’ ” McGuyrt said.

Seven months after the accident, McGuyrt, 26, is back at work at Sweet Traditions in Wake Forest. Once again, customers can watch her turn icing into Disney characters and elegant wedding cakes.

McGuyrt, who is right-handed, is learning how to use a new robotic prosthetic arm that features “fingers” that can grip and manipulate items. But it’s not capable of the detail work required to paint Alice in Wonderland on a child’s birthday cake.

So McGuyrt is learning all over again how to create her art, this time with her less-dominant left hand.

“My brain is not wired to be a lefty,” McGuyrt said. “I do things backwards – I open jars backwards.”

But she’s determined, and she’s celebrating small successes along the way.

She has video on her cellphone from the first time she used her left hand to squeeze green icing to spell “Hey Mom! Love, Kaylyn.” She rested her left hand on the stub of her right arm, allowing muscle memory to take over.

That was in October, only six weeks after the accident.

In December, she made a simple birthday cake for her husband, Adam.

‘Never going to be the same’

McGuyrt first took a culinary class while she was a student at Leesville Road High School in Raleigh. She liked the artistic aspect of creating beautiful food.

For her senior project, she made a four-tiered cake. The kitchen of her parents’ house was a mess for days.

After high school, McGuyrt earned a degree in baking and pastry arts from Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte.

She and Adam were high school sweethearts who have always enjoyed riding off-road vehicles. They were riding together on the ATV in Goldsboro on Sept. 6 when they hit that mud puddle.

McGuyrt spent the next eight days in the hospital in Greenville, undergoing three surgeries. Reality hadn’t set in, she said. Nurses, doctors and family members were taking care of her every need.

“Going home meant I was never going to be the same,” she said. “That was really scary to me.”

The day she left the hospital, she wrote the nurses a note to say goodbye and realized how bad her left-handed penmanship was.

She was in pain. Even feeling the air hit her amputated arm was uncomfortable.

There were so many challenges.

Before the accident, McGuyrt had cooked dinner every night. With only one hand, she realized she couldn’t easily hold the pot to stir.

How would she tie her hair in a pony tail, the way she had done thousands of times with two hands? How would she put on her clothes? Snap her bra?

McGuyrt said her husband, a former Marine who owns a landscaping company, is always willing to help.

“He’s a manly man, and he does my hair and ties my shoes and helps me put on my jewelry,” she said.

They hope to have children, and McGuyrt wonders how she will change diapers. But she knows she will figure it out.

‘I can do it’

For now, McGuyrt works part time at Sweet Traditions, where she has served as the main decorator for two years. She goes to occupational therapy twice a week, where she practices using a fork and picking up dominoes with the 3-pound prosthetic arm.

She’s learning how to better manage at work. She figured out she can hold a pot in place using the prosthetic and stir with her left hand.

Rowland Boksleitner, who owns Sweet Traditions, said customers missed McGuyrt’s work when she was gone.

The sweet-smelling shop has a sign that says “Kaylyn’s Corner,” and customers can watch her through a small window.

“I think what I like most about her is she has pride about her work,” Boksleitner said.

McGuyrt hopes to get some tools that will make things easier for her at Sweet Traditions. A special roller would allow her to more efficiently roll dough or fondant flat. Nonslip pads could help her open jars or stir ingredients.

She’s quick to say she doesn’t want any handouts – her pun, not mine. Luckily, she has health insurance.

But McGuyrt wants to show that dreams don’t have to die in the wake of unimaginable loss.

“I hope one day people can look at my story and say, ‘OK, she did it. I can do it,’ ” McGuyrt said.

If you ever find yourself traveling on Capital Boulevard through Wake Forest, stop in to see McGuyrt and her masterpieces.

Feel inspired by her cheerful attitude and contagious smile, as I did. Be in awe of her determination.

Order a cupcake, and savor the artistry that went into preparing it. It might just be McGuyrt’s work.

Her left-handed work.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 10:07 AM with the headline "After losing right arm, cake decorator learns her art all over again."