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Overcoming The IMPOSSIBLE My name is Zac Wolfe. Growing up I was a typical boy, I loved anything that had to do with the outdoors. I grew up in a small town in PA, the type of town where everyone knew each other. I had a close-knit group of friends that had all the same hobbies as me. On a typical day when we weren’t in school, you could find us on our bicycles, riding our ATVs, or just hanging out at one of our houses. Life was simple back then, not a care in the world except whose house we were going to venture to. Throughout my elementary and high school years, I was a member of the wrestling team. This sport is what shaped me into who I am today- dedicated, determined, and driven. The school was not my favorite, but I never missed a day. My parents pushed me to be the best version of myself and wanted to see me succeed in all aspects of my life. You could say that my parents were strict, but a “good” strict and taught me right from wrong. I graduated high school in 2010 and attended Clarion University as a computer science major. I was still unsure if college was for me, I believe at 18/19 years old we are still trying to figure out “who we truly are” and college is a BIG step! I completed my first two semesters which then brought us to summer break! I was ready to get back to my hometown to work and hang out with my friends. Every year over the 4th of July weekend my friends and I would go on a weekend-long camping trip in the middle of the woods. This was a time that all of us looked forward to, a time away from reality to cook and party for the weekend. July 3rd, 2011 was a day that I will never forget. We started playing some games and drinking and soon found out that we were running pretty low on alcohol. I know what you are thinking, “He was only 19, he shouldn’t even be drinking”. As teens, we like to think that we are “cool” and think that rules don’t apply to us (I know some of you reading this can relate). We partied until about 2 o’clock pm, then myself and two buddies decided that we needed to run to town. My buddy drove his single cab Dodge pickup truck, I sat in the middle seat. We were coming around a sharp curve in the road about a half mile from town when the driver overcompensated and lost control of the truck causing it to strike an embankment and roll over onto its roof. I remember seeing the absolute brightest white light, almost as if I was staring into the sun, then the next thing I knew I was waking up face down in the middle of the road with a friend (that had heard the crash from his house up the road and ran down) next to me saying “hold on Zac the ambulance is coming, stay with me”. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t feel any of my limbs, I remember saying “Wow, I really screwed up this time”. I kept going in and out of consciousness, with no idea what was wrong, I was full of blood from a gash the whole length of my arm from glass shards. I was transferred to the nearest hospital, where I was then life-flighted to the nearest trauma center. The doctors said I had sustained a C5-C6 spinal cord injury and they would have to perform surgery to stabilize my neck/area of injury. Prior to this accident I never had surgery before. I thought once the surgery was complete, I would be back to normal in a few days. Boy, I was very wrong. I had no idea what a spinal cord injury was, nor did I know the long road that I had ahead of me. I was in ICU for 7 days, then I was transferred to an inpatient facility in Pittsburgh PA, about 2.5 hours from my hometown. I still feel like my entire hospitalization is a blur and it's hard to describe my feelings as I think I almost blocked that week of my life out of my mind. When I got to the inpatient facility, this is where I really found out the extent of my injuries. I could not sit up on my own, roll from side to side in bed on my own, shower, brush my teeth, or get dressed- that was absolutely devastating because I am the type of kid who never asks for help. I started therapy the day after I was transferred to the facility. I had to do therapy from my room in bed because I was unable to move too much or I would black out due to blood pressure issues. This is common with this type of injury. After a few days, the nurses finally got me to attend therapy in their designated locations throughout the building. I attended Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Hand Therapy. At that time, I still had no hand, arm, or leg movement and had to be pushed in a wheelchair. I had to be strapped into the chair, due to my core instability (I was like a bobblehead and could not hold myself upright). During the first week or so of therapy, I was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on- I believe I was still in shock. Soon, the depression started to set in. I hit rock bottom. I would lash out at my parents for no reason and I was just angry at the world. My parents took the brunt of my anger but stuck with me every single step of the way. My parents went through absolute hell, I can’t even imagine watching my kid go through such a life-changing accident, not to mention, the financial burden. My mother, father, sister, and grandparents were with me every day that they could when I was in inpatient rehab and even when I transferred to outpatient. My father had to work to lessen the financial burden and to get a contractor in our house to convert our attached garage into a handicapped apartment for me when I came home. Every day my father had off, he was there to relieve my mom so that she could run home and try to get things done around the house. This is something that I will never be able to fully thank them for. Their lives stopped for two full years and all the focus was on me. My sister’s life completely changed for those two years as well. This injury did not only affect me, it affected my entire family. Sacrifices were made that I will never be able to repay. This was one of my big motivators as well. It was the 3rd week of therapy on Wednesday. I was at the absolute lowest I have ever been in my life. I just wanted to give up. I was laying in my bed after Physical Therapy and I was crying, saying “why me, why did this happen to me, what did I do to deserve this!”. That very night I woke up out of a dead sleep and I said to myself “Zac, you are the only person that can better this situation, no one else can help you. It's time to get to work”. It felt as if a weight was just lifted off my shoulders. From that day forward I gave every single day at therapy my all, I NEVER missed a day of therapy and always did extra if it was given. My parents and grandparents would work with me on my off time, we were determined to beat the odds. I had a HUGE support group- my friends were there every chance that they had and my wife was by my side from day one as well. We were not dating during the time of my accident but were friends and she was secretly in love with me. LOL. She helped me through some of the toughest times and was always there for me to lean on when I had bad days. I was in the inpatient facility for 2 months; from there I was transferred to an outpatient facility that was 15 minutes from my hometown. I was super nervous to come back to our small town for therapy because the facility never worked with a spinal cord patient before. I quickly found out that their team was more than ready for me. They researched on their own time and discovered workouts that challenged me to get to the next step. Each week we set goals and each week I crushed those goals! When a therapist can see the patient's drive, they in return feed off of your energy and go that extra step. I was in outpatient rehab for 2.5 years and my MAIN goal was to walk in braces, something doctors said to be impossible. The therapists knew this goal and knew that we were going to reach it one way or another. We began standing in the standing frame daily, I started out only being able to tolerate 5 minutes I would start to get dizzy. I kept getting denied by insurance to get KAFO (knee-ankle-foot orthotic) braces because it was not practical for a person with a high-level injury such as myself to use this type of brace. My physical therapist and occupational therapist brainstormed and came up with an idea: they got a pair of knee immobilizer braces and some ace bandages to keep my toes pointed up and we started working on standing/trying to take a step. It was pretty much impossible to do this, let alone to stand with braces and a walker. I had 4 therapists working with me, one on each side to move my leg forward, one supporting my core, and one moving the walker forward. BUT THEY DID NOT GIVE UP ON ME AND I WAS NOT GIVING UP ON THEM! We did this every single day, along with hours of other workouts. After months of work, I was finally able to swing my legs through to take a few steps (my knees were locked out, and I was able to activate my hip flexors to swing my legs through). I was approved by insurance to get KAFO braces! When I got these braces, they had back support on them to help stabilize my core. This back support did help tremendously with walking, but I was not working my core at all. 6 months later, the back support was gone and we had new goals to reach! I will never say that days were easy, hell days still aren’t easy, but I learned that if you truly want to reach a goal, you must put in the work! I wanted so badly for things to happen overnight, but that did not happen and this was very hard for me to get through mentally. The main question I get all the time is “How do you do it?”, “How did you do it?”. Here are my answers: how do I do it? I have no other choice. Sure I can lay around and feel sorry for myself, but where does that get me? When I tell people that I live my life like a game, they look at me like I am crazy. I have always loved challenges, the challenge that was thrown at me was one I never thought I could figure a way out of. I set weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. This was something for me to look forward to and something to work towards. I used to lay in bed at night (I still do) and envision what I wanted to do, I would actually feel it in and watch myself do it. For example, last month I was never able to stand up with my braces from my wheelchair on my own. I laid in bed for weeks thinking and feeling how I would do it. I actually saw myself do it. Guess what? I did a few weeks ago. As I stated above, my support system was absolutely amazing. My friends never left my side, everything they did I did, nothing was too hard or an inconvenience for them. They never once looked at me or treated me differently. To them, I was the same old Zac, just on wheels and I needed a little assistance to get into their lifted trucks. My wife, the girl that came into my life when I was at rock bottom, pushed me beyond measure to better myself. I wanted to better myself for her. She is to thank for my becoming so independent. If I still lived with my parents, I would have gotten lazy and taken things for granted. My mom used to help me with everything, she hated to see me struggle. So does my wife, but she knows and I know that out of struggle comes success! She made me realize that the only barrier is my mind. Once I get my mind right and focus on my goal, nothing can stop me. Together we have traveled all over the country and have done more things than most able-bodied people. I currently work a full-time job in the quality department at a powdered metal facility. I have been with the company for 8 years now. This also helped tremendously with my recovery, the job challenged me with my independence, thus making me a stronger person. I never miss a day of work; I take my job very seriously. The company will never understand how much they have helped me with my self-image. I also help out an offroad shop on the side, I do all of the social media and video editing for them. I have a huge passion for off-roading and the outdoors- this is what sparked my idea to start my own company called Adaptive Outdoorz to help others see all the adaptive equipment that is offered for individuals with disabilities to stay active. In my free time, I love to handcycle, go for Jeep rides, and ride our UTV. What I want people to take from my story is, life is downright tough at times, you feel like you will never get past a tragedy. I am living proof; I was told that I would need 24-hour care and would be confined to a power wheelchair. You know what? If I would have taken those words to heart, I probably would be in that situation. Doctors know the medical side of things; they don’t know what type of HEART a person has. You can do anything you put your mind to, I promise you that. It may not be easy and you may need a little assistance doing that task, but it can be done. Live your life to the fullest and never back down from a challenge! My journey is far from over!

Disabled and Broken…literally Hello my name is Marna Michele I was born with Arthrogryposis. You might already know a little bit about me through my podcast Crippled is Beautiful and because I was on American Idol in 2020. Since then I have continued to sing and chase my dream. But there have been some obstacles these past couple years. We all experienced Covid together. What a wild time. And I’ve had some personal obstacles as of late…in June I got into an automobile accident. It’s quite a crazy story! I had just bought myself a new handicapped accessible van, I was very proud that I managed to pull that off. I had this gorgeous 2020 Toyota Sienna for less than 24 hours before someone ran a red light and caused a collision between us. Long story short I was thankful enough to not be terribly injured. But my car was not OK. Thank goodness it was not totaled but it did have to be taken to the shop and it was going to be about two months before I would get my car back. So I had to find and rent a handicapped accessible vehicle for the time being. Jump a month and a half forward from my accident, my husband was driving this rental handicapped van as I was the passenger, and with some unlucky timing as he had to slam on the brakes I was bending forward to pick something up and the seatbelt disengaged I fell forward and I ended up breaking my tibia and fibula. I have now had a broken leg for almost 4 months, and I have been told it’s going to be another six months before I am healed. It’s been a very long and tumultuous road, and already being disabled I ran into feeling even more disabled. If that makes sense. I reached out through Instagram to my community and so many of you have given me words of strength and advice in time of need. You empowered me and I’m forever grateful. Something I’ve learned from all this is that I have truly surrounded myself with amazing humans. For example my husband, y’all this man has taken amazing care of me and managed to provide strength and love during a time that was very difficult. For the first month I was incapable of doing many things I was so used to being able to do. It was quite humbling. Through this time I feel I have become stronger, I have had to face many fears such as going to doctor appointments, getting poked with needles, and serial casting. All things I have been traumatized by since childhood. Young me handled similar situations with more grace than adult me. I try to look back at that time and gain strength from her. With all this comes experience, gratitude, hope. Thank you for allowing me to share a bit of my story during this time. Community matters and I’m proud to be a part of such a strong one.

My Story Hi! My name is Mathilda. I was born an amputee as a result of Amniotic Band Syndrome, something only 30% of babies with the syndrome survive. I was also born with clubfoot, so as a baby and a toddler, I underwent many corrective surgeries on both legs, as well as to repair my cleft palate. I was lucky to grow up traveling around the world, with very few problems to do with my disability. However, in September 2021 I undertook a further amputation surgery as a result of complications to my limb and in order to receive better mobility long-term (so it’s really a win). I also recently received hearing aids due to a cognitive hearing loss in both ears, however I have been inspired by this to learn BSL! Where I am now While I am still recovering, I hope to try out seated/adaptive archery and climbing, as they were both things that were a huge part of my childhood and I want to prove to myself that I can do anything just as I used to. I’m now a proud student of St Andrews University in Scotland, and I am represented by Zebedee talent agency, hoping to inspire others and encourage people to learn about disability and learning to accept themselves for the wonderful humans they are.

Life can change in an instant On April 21, 2007, at just 18 years old as a senior in high school, I was the passenger in a tragic car accident that changed my life forever. In the accident, I broke my neck and suffered a C6 spinal cord injury. I spent the next 5 months at a rehabilitation center in Atlanta, Georgia learning to adapt to a new life in a wheelchair, and then came home to Orlando, Florida to continue my physical therapy. Next Step: Orlando Prior to my injury, I was very adventurous and I danced competitively for 7 years. Coming from such an active past, I found myself searching the internet for more aggressive and challenging types of therapy for spinal cord injuries. I found a recovery center called NextStep in Southern California and began making trips out west for their activity-based therapy program. Then in 2009, my mother and I founded NextStep Orlando, a 501(c)3 nonprofit paralysis recovery center, to bring access to this type of recovery program to the Southeast. Today, we are still going strong! I work part-time at the facility and train 3 days a week. We have been host to clients with an array of neurological disorders from all over the US and the world!! I love to showcase our clients' (and my own) recovery on social media and every year at our Walk-n-Roll-a-Thon Red Carpet Showcase (this year is our 13th annual event on Saturday, October 29th) You can follow us @nextstep_orlando on Instagram and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nextsteporlando Meeting Matt NextStep Orlando helped me to regain strength, stamina, and confidence in my body. About a year after we opened the center, I met my future husband Matthew and we started dating fairly quickly. Matt was the first guy I had met in 3 years that did not seem intimidated by my disability or overwhelmed by my needing his help with things such as getting in and out of the car, cutting my food, or even using the bathroom. He eventually transitioned into being my full-time caregiver. A passion I developed after my injury was hand cycling. In 2017, I set a goal to complete a 10k race at Disney at the end of the year and began training. I accomplished my goal and finished the race in just over an hour and a half. The best part was Matt was waiting at the finish line to propose to me! Matt & I were married in a magical beach wedding on May 11, 2019, and then we set sail on my dream honeymoon cruising around the Mediterranean. I booked accessible tours at each stop and we had the best time with truly amazing tour guides but our favorite memory was our private wine tasting atop a mountain surrounded by fields of vineyards in Tuscany! Surrogacy Journey About a year later, Matt and I started on what we are calling our “surrogacy journey”. We have chosen to combine my eggs and Matt’s sperm to create our embryos and use a gestational to carry our baby. We made this decision after meeting with a High-Risk Obstetrician. While it is possible for me, a quadriplegic, to carry and deliver my own baby, there were concerns related to secondary complications due to my spinal cord injury including hypotension (I struggle with very low blood pressure daily), and an even greater risk of contracting a UTI or getting a kidney infection (and just catheter care in general, I have a supra pubic catheter). Other concerns included a lack of appetite and inability to gain weight as well as the possibility of having to be on bed rest for an extended period of time. After this meeting with the doctor, we felt reassured in our decision. Then Covid hit and everything was put on hold. Once businesses began to reopen, I tried scheduling a consultation at a local fertility clinic which wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. It took me an entire year just to find a fertility clinic that was equipped and able to treat someone with my condition. And I live in Orlando, FL, not a small town in the USA! (Just goes to show that even in 2022 people with disabilities are still being hugely overlooked). Once Matt and I had our embryos, we found a surrogacy agency and we were matched with our surrogate! After some setbacks, our first embryo was scheduled for March of this year. Matt and I were so hopeful this was the start of the next chapter of our lives but unfortunately, the transfer was unsuccessful. In April, we went on a vacation to Cabo San Lucas to celebrate my 15th life day, (the anniversary of my car accident that I’m so grateful to have survived) and to reflect on all that is important to us. We came back and decided to try again. After some more setbacks, our second transfer was scheduled for earlier this month. (August 2022) Matt and I did our best to stay hopeful that this would finally be our chance to start our family but this week we got the sad news again that the transfer was unsuccessful. Staying Grateful It’s heartbreaking and at times discouraging. It’s hard not to feel this injury has robbed me of so many experiences and is constantly challenging me in new ways… but one thing I’ve truly learned from my accident is to be so very grateful for everything that I do have and not to take even the smallest things in life for granted!

The unstoppable Shana Boutte Shana Boutte is a person of many talents. She is also diagnosed with 12 forms of disability including autism. Knowing the struggle, she has dedicated herself to helping others. Over time Shana has become certified in many fields such as life coaching, emotional counseling, training those with disability for independent living, helping those who have struggles with sexuality or have been sexually abused, and much more. In addition to that Shana helps the LGBTQ community build networks. Freedom of expression is also important for Shana, for she is an experienced fashion model. Using social media platforms, she has used modeling to show others with disabilities that it is possible to reach your dreams. Feel free to contact Shana if you need help dealing with physical health, in need of emotional support, or looking to be the best form of you. She could video chat with you and guide you with a kind heart.

Travel yes yoocan Follow Lucy on her journey around the world, living life to the fullest, proving that yes yoocandoanything!

Walking again Thank you to Jessye for the wonderful and inspiring video. We wish you the best of luck! If you would like to share important and inspiring moments with us please do so at the following link.br>

Ocho and Chloe shopping Chloe shares an adorable video of Ocho helping out during shopping. You can see more and follow Ocho grow on their channel @watchochogrow. Thanks, Chloe hope you will share more.

About me Hi everyone my name is Conor McAuley and I'm 20 years old. I have Duchenne muscular dystrophy which is a rare muscle wasting disease. In the past, especially as a young teenager, I really struggled with my mental health. When things first locked down in early 2020, I started on a social media journey! I posted about my life on Instagram. I really want to just show people, life does get better! I also want to raise awareness for DMD, my own story, & hopefully help anyone who may be struggling :)

Over 1 billion people are estimated to experience some type of disability, making up around 15% of the global population These figures illustrate how the experience of disability is widespread. Accurate representation in literature that contends with, and simultaneously celebrates, the nuances of these conditions is now more urgent than ever. We should focus on literary works that feature experiences of disability that aren’t exploited as mere plot devices or aren’t fraught with oversimplified stereotypes. Hopefully, the list we’ve compiled can illuminate misunderstandings and clarify misconceptions about the rich lives people with disabilities have gone on to —and will continue — to live. Here are five books by disabled authors you should read: Uniquely Me by Trace Wilson Filled with vibrant illustrations, Uniquely Menbsp; for children looking to be a bit braver and louder in life. The author, Trace Wilson, communicates his experience as a physically handicapped man to craft an uplifting journey of acceptance. Only he doesn’t merely nudge at accepting your differences, he asserts that these are crucial in accessing new and rare adventures. This book will appeal to kids and adults alike, engaging yet never overwhelming. The Perseverance by Raymond Antrobus As with any defining facet of identity, disability can inform a poet’s style in a myriad of ways. This is either through language, thematic images, or structure. In The Perseverance, Raymond Antrobus utilizes the method of erasure by reconstructing a poem by Ted Hughes. While most of the poems in this collection dwell on grief, education, and language, this erasure enabled him to explore the ignorance the deaf community faces. Readers are provided an acute sense of triumph as Antrobus expertly mediates between communication and connection. The Pretty One by Keah Brown Being black and having cerebral palsy is a distinct experience conveyed beautifully by a contemporary voice on Keah Brown gives depth to her meditations on family, romance, and the media's skewed perception of disability. Readers are indeed welcomed into a brave community in this incisive collection of essays. It is a book that likewise urges you to reclaim your identity and take tangible action, as Keah Brown did through her hashtag #DisabledAndCute. The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang As with the intricate nature of the titular condition, Esmé Weijun Wang likewise centers on stories that try to evade categorization in this collection of essays. Personal anecdotes are interspersed with pressing issues surrounding schizophrenia such as the medical community’s irregular use of labels for diagnoses and the threat of institutionalizing patients based on factors like PTSD and Lyme disease. Readers will commend Wang’s capacity for research as she adeptly overturns misconceptions and provides insights into the diverse experiences of schizophrenics. I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder by Sara Kurchak Sara Kurchak’s musings on alienating experiences, autism parenting culture, obsessions, and relationships prove just as compelling as the title of her book. Here, she tracks the poignant misconception on how those with autism should be diagnosed with anxiety. This is a timely book for those grappling to meet the circumstances of their disorder. Sara Kurchak honors the gravity of these experiences; and offers her own as a way to balance the weight.

Disabled Dancer Creates Film My name is Heather Friese Banet, I am a disabled dancer from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I live with complex regional pain syndrome. My story is so important to me that I made a film about it called Pain Raised Me. You can check it out on YouTube and learn more about me on my Instagram page: @HeatherFrieseBanet

Meet Andrea Meet Andrea. She likes sports, horses, and video games. She is an inspiration to us all! A lot of love from Italy.