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My Story Hello, I am Roxana from Romania. I'm 31 years old and I'm a paraplegic since 2009 from a car accident (T6-T7- completely injury). My life has changed radically since my accident. When I received my wheelchair, I was scared. I did not know if I could manage the situation. Fortunately for me, I've handled it. I currently lead a normal life, raise my child who is already 13, and try to create a beautiful future. I have written a few books, which have been published in Romania and Italy. I even started writing a film script. I am also a model in a wheelchair and walked down the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week for a famous Italian foundation #Vertical. Now I'm collaborating with Lulia Barton S.r.l.s, the first inclusive Fashion agency in the world @iuliabarton_official. I am happy with who I am, and who I have become after the accident. I am not ashamed of my disability and I have always felt beautiful. This is my story in few words! Enjoy your life!

Together We Rise Aaron Baker was a professional motocross racer when, in 1999, he crashed while practicing, breaking the 4-5-6 cervical vertebras in his neck. "While in the hospital my neurosurgeon diagnosed me as a complete quadriplegic, having only a one in a million chance of regaining any function below my level of injury," Baker says. "However, through my intense desire to optimize the quality of my life, through eternal optimism and exercise I have been able to focus my mind and energy resulting in a slow, tedious return of function and strength." Baker's drive, along with the unending support of his family, has produced remarkable results. He's not only regained function against the odds, but he's recovered to do things like pedal a bicycle across the United States (Twice!), walk 20 miles across Death Valley unassisted, race the Mammoth Mountain, Kamikaze Downhill on a custom mountain bike, and earn a T-1 cycling National Championship Title for the U.S. Paracycling team. His personal triumphs aren't the only story, however. Based on his own recovery experience, Baker and his mother Laquita Dian knew there was a void of resources for others who had suffered life-changing injuries and who had completed their in-patient and out-patient physical therapy but knew there was more progress to be made in their recovery. Together with Taylor-Kevin Isaacs they founded C.O.R.E., the Center of Restorative Exercise, in 2011. C.O.R.E. aims to "fill the health and wellness gap that exists between physical therapy and independent fitness." With custom-designed plans tailored to each individual, they're helping others advance their own recovery process and turn their full potential into reality. Aaron Baker is a passionate spinal cord injury advocate, who shares his 17+ years of experience as Ambassador for Red Bull - Wings For Life World Run that will return to Santa Clarita, California, May 7, 2017. Aaron is also the spinal cord injury Lifestyle Specialist for Shield Healthcare.com where he avails personal blogs, video content and direct access through the "Ask Aaron" portal. @imaaronbaker www.imaaronbaker.com www.centerofrestorativeexercise.com www.shieldhealthcare.com/community/spinal-cord-injury/ "I am, therefore I do. Explore, I am the Weaver. I do, therefore become A seer and believer." - Puscifer

My Spinal Cord Injury Accident Hi, my name is Caitlin. When I was 18 years old, I fell off a horse and broke my back leaving me as a full time wheelchair user. Since that first day of rehab I put everything into being completely independent and leading as full and "normal" of a life (whatever that means) as possible. Studying and Pursuing A Career Having a career was always very important to me. I've wanted to be a veterinarian since I was kid, but once I had my accident I thought this dream was impossible. However, supported by those around me I enrolled in veterinarian school and after many years of study, exams, hard work, and tears it all paid off and at the end of 2014 I became Dr. Caitlin. The next year I found a job at an extremely supportive practice, and they did everything to make sure my job as a vet was as easy and accessible as possible. Backpacking solo in a wheelchair My other dream has always been to travel. I have had so many friends who backpacked around Europe solo and I really believed this was something I was going to miss out on. However one morning I woke up and thought I can do this dammit, I quit my job and bought my ticket to Europe the same day. So since October this year I have been pushing around Europe and now South Africa with everything I own carried on my back, travelling solo. I have been to some amazing places (blue lagoon Iceland, ruin bars Budapest and learning to ski in Austria). I have mostly been staying in hostels (that's right sharing a room with 10'other people) and have made some really good friends in the process. Travelling by myself in a wheelchair for 3 months has been challenging but sometimes it has been incredibly hassle free. There are some things that I have had to miss out on (certain restaurants, some attractions) which I know if I had a travel companion to help me I would have been ok. However I think that's part of the adventure, if I was a normal backpacker who could do anything without thinking about it first it wouldn't be a challenge and quite frankly I'd probably be quite bored. The future I'm currently travelling in South Africa for the next couple of weeks and will be looking to finishing my travels In January and also look for a job - still in the veterinary field. If anyone has any questions about working, studying or travel I would be happy to answer them. I am writing a blog about my adventures which you can fin at www.wheelchairwanderings.com

Accident and then what? When I was 18 I had a car accident. A very serious one - I became paralysed. Back then, for a short while I thought that was it for me. No more fun, journeys, beautiful moments. Everybody has their ups and downs, I guess at that moment I was at my weakest. Revival I managed to get myself together - mostly because I had a great support of my loving family and friends. Soon it became clear to me that limits are not in your body. They are in your mind. You can be perfectly healthy and still be imprisoned by the limits you give yourself! You restrain yourself from travelling saying that you have other expenses to cover. You never go crazy at the dancefloor cause you're scared of what other people might think. You keep your depressing job becasue you're scared to get out of your comfort zone. This is all bull*hit! Thanks to my accident I became aware that everything is fleeting, nothing happens twice and I am the master of my own destiny - I could either stay depressed and bitter for the rest of my life or I could just enjoy my life. I've chosen the latter of course. So many things to do! I travelled around the world! Seriously, name a place and I've been there. The only problem was that I could not necessarily go anywhere I wished to. All because of my damn wheelchair! Imagine, you're at the Dominican Republic and can't go to the beach! Or you're in the Alps and can't get to the top of the mountain cause it just so happens, they adjusted the whole trail except for the top. Please, don't even get me started... I got this! So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I asked my friend, who is an engineer, for a bit of help. Luckily, I've always been a kind of an idea hamster - I had lots and lots of ideas for a wheelchair that could take me anywhere I wanted. Some ideas where terrible, other just bad and other were ok. Until finally I had that perfect one - a wheelchair, that's not really a wheelchair. A device that makes you feel free and allows you to go to a beach, forest or through deepest mud if you want to. A wheelchair based on a technology that allows it to be stable and move only on two wheels. Thank God for gyroscopes! Blumil is born Me and my friend created the first Blumil just for me. When I took my first ride it felt so amazing! I could literally just go through a forest. I could finally start enjoying my journeys to the fullest. Everybody who uses a manual wheelchair knows what a pain in their rear end is to drive on cobblestones - you can get a connussion and sore muscles after 5 metres. With the Blumil I could smoothly race through the Warsaw old city. I even dared my friends to a race during cycling. And soon more and more people started asking me what was that magical device I was riding and where could they get it. Time for changes I decided I could help more people with the Blumil - so I've quit my old job and became a full-time producer of the Blumil wheelchairs. I have widened my portfolio so that everybody could find something just for them. Now, you can get the Blumil all around the world. And everyday I feel blessed when I see pictures of my clients which they had shared with me. I am happy that my motto "Experience freedom" is alive and well. I am happy that my product can help somebody feel better and make them smile.

I've always been like this I was in a car accident when I was 2 and had a spinal cord injury. It affected my arm rather than my legs, but I still have the use of my hand, which is the most amazing thing! I think I'm lucky that this happened to me when it did because I don't know any different and if it had happened when I was older, I would have had to adjust. People don't notice and even when I tell them, I don't get much of a reaction out of them because I function so well. The only time someone has said something to me was a friend watching me do my hair one day, completely one-handed, and she said "Wow. You are amazing." I will never forget it because no one has ever said that to me and of course being female, doing your hair is the most important thing! I also do a lot of things left-handed since I can't lift my left arm and use my right hand like most right-handed people do, I do it the opposite way since my left hand works. Such as scraping out a bowl in the kitchen. I can raise the bowl with my right arm, hold the spatula in my left hand and gravity pulls my left arm down. So I'm very thankful that this happened when I was young and that it happened to my arm and not my legs.

It's just carpal tunnel.....I work too hard Last August (2015) I started to get numb tingly fingertips. I quickly dismissed it as it spread down my hand over the weeks. I worked like a dog building up an intense domestic cleaning round to provide for my two teenage sons as I'd split with my partner of 16yrs the previous year... Behind furniture, on top of conservatorys, underneath the boiler even lofts. No corner left unclean all day everyday for 3 years. No time off and in my spare time I'd run, hike, game and read intensely, my arms and legs burning with pain..I just work hard I thought as for my hands, Carpal tunnel that's what it is, I dont have time to deal with that...By the end of 2015 I couldn't feel my hands or feet, they tingled like hot little needles 24/7 I couldn't hold anything, my fingers curled over themselves on their own, my legs felt like cement I couldn't feel my skin from the neck down, bladder problems, seizures...it was time to see a doctor 😣 Brain disorder? Spinal cord injury? Long story short, my doctor visit led to an urgent neurology referral, that led to an inpatient stay at a specialist unit in London where I was tested and poked and diagnosed with a 4 level spinal cord compression at c4/c7. The cord was squashed flat and bruised the surgeon couldn't believe I was still dragging myself around and if I continued I would be paralysed from the neck down in 6-9 months...I was also diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder my brain is not sending or receiving signals properly. I required urgent surgery to relieve the pressure and was expected to be in the unit for weeks rehabilitating with no guarantees that I would be mobile at all. Walking outta there 14 hrs after anterior cervical surgery I walked out of that unit on my own feet, I could feel my hands and feet, my fingers were under my own control. My body was mine again... My brain didn't know how to use some of it after so long being half paralysed but it was a miracle that I'd be able to try. And I did. I am not fixed, my spinal column is still trying to crush my cord and some damage is irreversible but I have a few more years on my feet hopefully....although my surgery was in September 2016 I have already started to experience the beginning symptoms again and I have a lot of work to do rewiring my brain with the help of therapists from psychology to occupational therapy and the physio is demanding. Thinking is demanding. I cannot walk far unaided, I cannot do a lot of things unsupervised and I fight psychotic anxiety and bouts of personality changes that are tamed by medication. The physical symptoms from the FND often mimic the spine injury, it's confusing to work out what is what. I'm getting there. Slowly but I'm fighting it. One day I might be me again 😊

Defying all odds A few weeks back more than thirty thousand cyclists took part in the 20th edition of the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge. This event takes place annually bringing thousands of cyclists together from all over South Africa and many parts of the World. A grueling 95km loop starting at Riversands Commercial Park in Fourways, takes you through suburbs and cities, a ‘quick” lap around Kylami Race track, fast downhills and extremely steep inclines, it has it all. With over 1400m of climbing though it brings most athletes to tears, Monday physio’s are certainly not complaining. The hot sun beating down on you for hours, the increased burning sensation of your muscles with every pedal stroke, the constant illusions of there been water holes at every hilltop, the continuous fight in your head and wanting to throw in the towel, sounds like fun right? Now, imagine completing this event in a hand-cycle (effectively a reclined bicycle), using nothing more than your upper body, mainly biceps and triceps. Well 8 differently abled hand-cyclists riding for team Adaptive Sports Fund defying all odds completed this event, some doing it faster than abled bodied cyclists. Incredible right, well that’s the word that comes to mind. Can you imagine the determination or shear stubbornness not wanting to quit, is ‘quit” even a word in their vocabulary, probably not. The mental and physical challenges these guys must have gone through for hours on end. I can’t believe there’s even a comparison, it’s the difference between walking and crawling i guess. In the words of Bert Le Clos, “Unbelievable” Well, these adaptive athletes without a doubt are my heroes. I draw so much inspiration from them and maybe just one day i’ll be able to cycle along side them and say “I too have completed the hardest road cycling race in South Africa”. I salute you all. No Limits. Just Life! www.adaptivesportsfund.org

GO SKATE!!! My name is Daniel Edmondson and I am a bi-lateral below the knee amputee. I am also a skateboarder, snowboarder, wakesurfer, etc. I’ve been an amputee since February 1st of 2014. I volunteer with the Adaptive Skate Kollective, helping run clinics for anyone that wants to get better at skateboarding and wcmx. I also compete in adaptive skateboarding, wakesurfing and snowboarding. In the summer of 2016 I competed in the first ever adaptive category at the Minnesota Wake Surfing Championship. I was also at the Rise Adaptive Sports WCXM and Adaptive Skate World Championship in Dallas, Texas. Most recently I attended the Denver Gravity Games, I won 1st place in the adaptive category! People are always suprised to see me skate as a bi-lateral amputee. Sometimes I skate with my prosthetics off. It really just depends on where I am, and what style of skate I feel like that day. It's all about finding out what works for you. My favorite is downhill skateboarding, where I reach 35-40mph, and hope to go faster next season. I recently published the Adaptive Skate Coloring Book. I'm hoping it shows people that no matter who you are, you can enjoy skateboarding. Personally, I'm looking forward to a future where people assume that people with 'disabilities' can do anything. In fact, let's just get rid of that word all together. Go skate!

A shift My journey in a wheelchair began 3 years ago on January 26th, 2014 while enjoying a deep passion of mine. I was racing a winter motocross race in Boise, ID when I suffered a crash that would change my life forever. A bad trip over the handlebars would leave me with multiple injuries, a dislocated and shattered T12 vertebrae, damaging myspinal cord, a dilsocated hip and shoulder, 4 broken ribs, a punctured lung, and the head of my femur sheered off. All from a sport I have chased and enjoyed for 17 years(5 professionally). Outside of my family, Motocross(racing dirtbikes on a closed course offroad) was my first love, my true passion. However, I knew when it was taken away my passion would not end there. new beggining I knew in order to have a quality life it was important to take care of myself and keep as much strength as possible. It was this mission that led me to my next passion. I eventually found the world of CrossFit. I was able to accomplish 2 things here, build a functional strength that allows me to do things many in a wheel chair can't, and satisfy my internal need and desire to compete. I quickly found my place in the adaptive crossfit world and have continued to flourish and reach others with the idea of functional strength the launches us into a world outside of the wheel chair.

The Power in Adversity On June 22, 2016 Margarita Elizondo was a single mother of 3 when a man broke into her home and shot her in the neck. The bullet exited back severing her spinal cord leaving her paralyzed from the neckline down. Her unborn child did not survive. Tragedy to Thrive Margarita began speaking four months after her injury and two years later founded Blessed with Life, a faith based peer support group for individuals with disabilities and their families. She was crowned Ms. Wheelchair California in 2013 and has received numerous recognitions throughout the years for her work in the community. The most recent, Union Bank & Channel KPBS, Hero of the Year Award 2016. Adversity Empowers Purpose Her passion for helping others and refusal to be a victim of circumstance is what has thrust her into the limelight. As a motivational speaker Margarita teaches people that adversity is not something you overcome, she says, “... it marks you for life. It molds you, preparing you, so that your purpose in life is more powerful.” She is a regular guest speaker at San Diego State University, for a Sociology course, Disability and Society. As a power wheelchair Model, Margarita is breaking down social barriers and advocating for full inclusion in fashion. She is doing more of the same in media as producer and podcast host of Wheel Talk Wheel Issues, which informs, inspires, and creates awareness on issues related to life as a wheelchair user.

Who I am Hey, I'm Svenja. I'm 21 and I live in Germany. I have needed a wheelchair from birth because my spinal cord isn't developed completely. I'm able to walk but not for long. I lived in a boarding school for 9 years, which was my chance to become independent, and I think I did. In 2013, I start visiting Medieval Festivals. Since that time, I have gone camping and found many new friends from many cities and even some other countries! Sure it isn't always easy, but we are like a big family so if I need help with my wheelchair someone helps me. This year I got my first camera and love to take photos of the festivals and also in our garden. I need to be on tour to be the happiest, so I travel more than 10000 kilometers every year to visit festivals and concerts and my friends. I think everything is possible, even with a wheelchair or any disability. Just make sure you always keep your heart in it!

A Legally Blind Photographer, Finger Painter, and Writer. I'm a legally blind photographer, finger painter, and author of Kindle e-books for children, teens, and adults. The arts have been a big part of my life from an early age, but having a progressiv eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa, or RP, made it hard to keep doing these things. When I could no longer sketch, I discovered tht I could finger paint. When I could no longer finger paint, I discovered that I could take fine art photos like my hero, Ansel Adams, with the help of a point-and-shoot digital camera set on auto, my 47-inch computer monitor, my former art education, and my remaining vision. They say you're lucky to have had one dream come true in life. I've had many. I earned two degrees, became a social worker, a mother, a writer, a finger painter, and a photographer. Being a legally blind photographer, artist, and writer has its challenges, but I find if you push yourself a little, good things can happen.