“This moment was one I’d never in my 33 years of anxiety imagined happening to me. I held my phone steadily pointed towards my little boy, in hopes of capturing his every move on video. I was witnessing something I’d never have wished on the worst of enemies. I searched ‘Polymicrogyria,’ ran to the toilet, threw up my breakfast and curled into a tight ball. When I tell friends my son has a condition that causes epilepsy, they respond by saying, ‘at least that is treatable.’”
‘My son’s tiny body was wracked with seizures. I stroked his tense, shaking face, whispering his name that he was safe.’: Mom says her son is a ‘miracle’ despite debilitating Polymicrogyria diagnosis
‘I can’t walk, yet I’ve traveled to 23 countries, 80 cities. My husband carries me on his back. Up stairs, up mountains, across the world.’: Woman paralyzed in scooter accident, husband’s love reminds her ‘anything is possible’
“After I lost movement in my legs, I was afraid to tie myself to someone again. I was afraid no one could ever love me like this…halved. I didn’t love myself. But he’s always remained by my side. You can lose almost everything, you can lose your legs, and maybe even your wheelchair, but nobody can take away your determination.”
‘It’s really bad this time,’ she whispered. ‘My sister kicked me out. The cops are involved. I’m so scared.’ Paralyzed husband and his wife adopt 19-year-old, only 6 years younger than them
“‘Emily?’ The sniffling voice on the other line was hoarse from sobbing. I sighed. A tearful call in the middle of the night could only mean one thing. She hesitated. ‘Will you and Chris be my foster parents?’ I was caught off guard. We were 23 and 24 at the time, and newly engaged.”
‘A 20-year-old suddenly appeared on our doorstep. He needed a family just as much as we needed him. His foster mom texted me, ‘I’m no longer able to provide care for him.’
“Joe had lived with a caring foster mother for the past 7 years. He has cognitive disabilities and required ongoing care, even though he was now an adult. I emailed friends, ‘I feel sad he is not with us.’ Less than an hour later, I got her text. We had less than a day to decide.”
‘I got a message from a stranger offering condolences for my fiancé. My heart raced. I had NO IDEA what was going on.’: Deputy paralyzed in shooting, girlfriend embraces his ‘new normal’ with open arms
“I knew I needed to be wherever he was. I raced upstairs, put on clothes. After several unanswered phone calls, Jamie’s sergeant picked up. ‘He’s been shot in the back.’ He was paralyzed from the sternum down. The news didn’t hit until I had to relay it to my parents. I can’t make his pain go away. I can’t make his legs move again. But what I can do is love him.”
‘Who is this,’ I asked. ‘This is Ty’s assistant principal. I just came upon a car accident on my way home. It’s Ty, and he is not good.’ Wait, what?
“I told him I would let him know when I was home from school, so he could come pick me up. Little did I know when I made that phone call, the details I heard on the other end would change our lives forever. Nothing would ever, ever be the same.”
‘I was ejected and thrown 50 feet from my car. I died that day. I knew I couldn’t feel my legs, but I didn’t know why. I was told I would never walk again.’
“I think every girl dreams of walking down the aisle to her husband. I had pictured it in my head since I was a little girl. I didn’t want that picture to play out differently just because of my accident. So I chased my dream.”
‘I didn’t want my heart broken again’: Wheelchair user finds her ‘true, unconditional love’ after trying to ‘self-sabotage’ the relationship
“He never once made me feel insecure about my disability and never once asked me what my disability meant for my future.”
‘My faith in humanity was restored with this cheap, plastic egg’: Mom overwhelmed by man’s act of kindness for wheelchair-bound daughter
“I’m not going to lie. I’m glad I had sunglasses on so he and his friends couldn’t see my eyes watering.”
‘We are going to carry you’: Students tell wheelchair-bound teacher their active shooter plan
Marissa Schimmoeller, a ninth and tenth grade English teacher at Delphos Jefferson High School in Delphos, Ohio, was dreading having to face her students the day after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. Many teachers across the country shared the same worries of addressing an active shooter plan, but for Schimmoeller, who is wheelchair-bound due to cerebral palsy, …
