After suffering a life altering injury, a Valencia High School teen will spread her message of persistence during a TEDx event at Real Life Church in mid-March.

16-year-old Makena Lautner tore her ACL while playing volleyball for a top rated team. After suffering the injury, she faced a heart condition which added to her challenging rehabilitation.

Lautner soon realized that her life and volleyball career would never be the same.

Rather than sulk in sorrow, she decided to adhere to the mantra of two-time Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis: “When you challenge a warrior, a warrior will respond.”

Unexpected TEDx Youth @ VHS event will focus on this basic principle.

“The message that I want to spread is to just not give up,” Lautner said. “I didn’t want to just sit down and pout that I couldn’t play volleyball anymore. I wanted to do something that would help other people.”

In a recent on-air interview with KHTS AM-1220, Lautner explained that in addition to the words of the flamboyant former football star, the inspiration for her TEDx event came from a friend who was forced to give up on his dreams of playing football after suffering multiple concussions.

“Through these TED talks, I just wanted to inspire people,” Lautner said. “When you face unexpected circumstances in life, you should fill it with something good rather than just giving up.”

Speakers include two-time Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis, singer songwriter Christina Perri, Invisible Children Co-Founder and Director of Kony 2012 Jason Russell, artist Jared Emerson, author Shelene Bryan and director of Project Bayview Shawn Gordon.

The event will be held on March 15 from 4 – 8 p.m. at Real Life Church, located at 23841 Newhall Ranch Road.

Lautner is currently seeking financial sponsors to help with the cost of hosting the event.

Ticket donations range from $15-$25 depending on seat preference. The tickets will be made available to the public on Feb. 23 and 24 at the Valencia High School Library from 4 – 7 p.m.

Valencia High School is one of the few high schools in the nation that was licensed to be a part of the TED global community.

TED is a nonprofit organization that devotes itself to spreading ideas in the form of short, powerful talks, usually no longer than 18 minutes, according to the organization’s website.

While TED talks are organized internally, TEDx events gives the public an opportunity to organize an event within their local community.