The runways have a void that has been very hard to fill. Keisha was a young woman with many qualities both physical and as a human being. She was a professional model and this time, we want to remember her lifeWe talked with Keisha´s mom, Linda MacDonald, who remembers her daughter, along with many others in the haute couture world, whose art and creativity dress the world.
Linda MacDonald remarked about her child: “Keisha was my angel and I truly believe a gift from God. In her short but wonderful life she touched and changed so many people's lives, including mine. Never before have I seen so much youth, beauty and love in one person. I've often asked why, why her? A young girl with so much promise and love for life. A girl that brought so much joy to her friends and family.....she was only 18yrs old and her life had really only just begun.”
“Now I believe she was sent here to teach us all something. To live life to the fullest every single day, and never ever give up on your dreams. This is where the modeling comes in. Keisha had a dream of walking the runways and gracing magazine covers since she was a little girl”, said Linda.
Linda manifested that life took her daughter’s dreams away while she was about to make them come true, and added that “at age 12, I took her to a model search where she signed on with Traque Model Management. For the next six years, Keisha fell in love with, and became a part of the modeling world. This was a journey we took together, as I supported this dream and never left her side. On Feb. 20th, 2007 this dream and her amazing life came to a screeching halt. Keisha was killed in a horrible car accident approximately 45 minutes after she left my parents home for dinner”.
“I was the last person to hug and kiss her goodbye. We said "I love you" and she walked out the door for the last time. The person I used to be, also died that night. The incredible irony of this story is that the same day she was killed her agent was on a trip in New York and had just been offered a 3 year contract for Keisha to go to Tokyo to model”, recalled Linda.
Linda said that a fabulous offer and opportunity was awaiting her. Lynn Clark-Geiner, who was her agent was so excited to come home the next day and present Keisha with this amazing news, and instead was told of her tragic accident. Keisha never got the great news and now can never live out this dream she had been so passionate about. “How do you live with a broken heart....how do you go on from here? For a long time I didn't think I could. Then we, (Keisha's family) decided that yes, Keisha died but her dream doesn't have to”, said Keisha´s mom to this magazine.
That is when the family started, in her memory, called "The Keisha MacDonald Dare2Dream" foundation. Linda said that “we now sponsor and support young models and actors by giving out scholarships twice a year at an event in Chicago called Launch. We do a special tribute to Keisha there and present a $2,000.00 scholarship to a young person who has participated in the weekends events, and shown a lot of promise by receiving several call-backs from multiple modeling and acting agents and scouts from around the globe”.
The family also participates in a Michigan State Police defensive driving program that teaches kids who have just received their license, how to drive defensively and sponsor several kids each summer to take this course. “I believe that if my daughter had been taught defensive driving, she could have avoided her collision with the sem-truck that hit her and might still be here today”, said Linda.
