Pinning ceremony held in Ruston for MacKenzie Maier

MacKenzie Maier, the 22-year-old Louisiana Tech University nursing student who was involved in a car accident the day before graduation, got a special pinning ceremony Monday hosted by Ruston Regional Specialty Hospital. Maier’s uncle, Antonia Acosta, who’s also a nurse, placed her pin on her uniform. The pinning ceremony symbolizes the graduate’s achievement of completing the educational requirements and marks their transition into the profession. Maier suffered a C6-C7 spinal cord injury in the accident, leaving her with diminished use of her upper extremities and no movement of her legs. She spent two weeks at LSU Health Ochsner and four weeks at Touro inpatient rehabilitation center in New Orleans. Leader photo by Nancy Bergeron