“She told us she felt useless. It broke our hearts. ‘I’m tired of being stared at for having a wheelchair.’ She is going to fight until it’s gone.”
‘Is today the day?’ It was like she knew something we didn’t. She just wants to be a kid again.’: Parents share reality of 9-year-old daughter’s battle with brain cancer, ‘Her faith is high’
‘The doctor said, ‘She won’t turn 18. I recommend having another baby.’ My muscles betrayed me.’: Woman details journey with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, ‘Find your inner strength’
“My braces grew taller, and eventually reached my thighs. I still recall each time I got a new pair and had to ‘break them in.’ I’d pace our living room till the sweat dripped and tears rolled. With each shaky step, I’d chant, ‘I want, I can.’”
‘My head jostled and my neck cracked. Now I was blocking traffic. No one even tried to help.’: Woman details journey with CHILD Syndrome, ‘I turned moping into passion’
“The minute I left, I immediately felt eyes on the back of my head. Trust me, they weren’t admiring my beauty. I felt exposed.”
‘I came out basically dead. The doctor broke my spine. ‘She won’t be able to do ANYTHING.’: Woman paralyzed at birth finds soulmate, ‘EVERYONE deserves love ’
“I was paralyzed, all due to a doctor who cared more about the college football game than delivering a baby. They said I wouldn’t be able to use the bathroom by myself, move, talk, or go to school.”
‘Caleigh complained of back pain. ‘Her spine is collapsing,’ the doctor said. My sweet daughter was curving.’: Mom to daughter with muscular dystropy says ‘not every bad situation has to have a bad ending’
“Out of the blue, her ‘best friend’ no longer wanted to be her best friend. Countless strangers walk up and ask why she is using a ‘grandma scooter’ to get around. Any time she falls, people stare or laugh instead of rush to assist her. Still, she does not believe in ‘I cannot.’ Through all the needle sticks and surgeries, she does her best to comfort ME.”
‘He never complained; he just chugged along. It wasn’t easy. It almost felt like I was running.’: Wheelchair user with terminal illness thanks friend for his act of kindness
“There are many things I struggle with in regards to living with a terminal illness. Even if I did just a 5k one day, I could knock it off my list and enjoy the experience. Well, I sat on that goal for too long, and it never came to be. Fast forward to today: I came the closest I will to meeting that goal.”
‘I was in a wheelchair for 3 months, unable to walk or make a living. We were homeless. Friends donated furniture, filled our pantry, and clothed us.’: Family stays hopeful after ‘losing everything’ in fire
“We decided to build a small barn and live in it temporarily. Two weeks from being able to move in, I took a bad ladder fall down the side of the house. What little cash we had left now had to become living expenses. But, God!”
‘I got a bad cold. Within 24 hours, I was fully paralyzed. Parents pulled their kids away like I was contagious.’: 12-year-old girl with Acute Flaccid Myelitis finds joy despite paralysis, ‘I love life and the people in it!’
“We all got a bad cold. They got better, but mine got worse. Three days later I was paralyzed and put on a ventilator to breathe. I was sedated and missed my birthday.”
‘What is she doing?’ I was rolling around the block when a little boy saw me and fell off his bike. He couldn’t take his eyes off me.’: Woman in wheelchair touched by stranger’s inclusive language
“The father mentioned nothing about sickness, weakness, disability, pity. There was no shaming the kid for asking inappropriate questions or for staring. No apologizing to me.”
‘What will my child become?’ My differences were thought of as less ‘cool.’ I was the target of bullying, both verbal and physical.’: Man with cerebral palsy says ‘you are more than the struggles you face’
“Once I made my way to middle and high school, things became a struggle. A disability is a difficult diagnosis, yes, but it isn’t the be-all, end-all of your story.”
