Three Famous People That Are Wheelchair Users and obtained popularity

 

Jean Driscoll

Jean Driscoll was born with spina bifida in which the meninges are exposed through a gap in the backbone and by the sounds of the definition you can only imagine how strong she is. In 1976, she served as the poster child for the Milwaukee County. The amount of popularity she probably received was overwhelming because she was only a child and can’t comprehend much of the scenario. Another amazing achievement she has completed that should be mentioned is that she is the first and remains the only one to ever break the course and world record at the Boston marathon. She even broke the record five times, not once but five times. To top it all off, Jean was inducted into the wheelchair sports, USA Hall of Fame in the year of 2002. Being Inducted into any Hall of Fame is one hell of an achievement but the achievement being wheelchair sports and the USA just makes you proud of what people are capable of.

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Tanni Gray-Thompson

Tanni was born with the same condition as Jean Driscoll was born with. The condition was spina bifida that again, affects the backbone which it forces it to expose the meninges. This condition did not really start affecting her until she turned 7 years old. Now, you could only imagine the drop in confidence in a 7-year-old after they realize they are stuck in a wheelchair for countless hours on end. After she had to become a wheelchair user, she still managed to graduate college. She became so fast at using a wheelchair that she became a gold medalist in the Paralympics in which she is a world-class racer. It does not stop there, she is also a member of the Parliament. She wrote an autobiography and it had published in 2001 which was called Seize the Day. Accomplishing college alone many would see it a difficult task because she is in a wheelchair. The fact that she used the wheelchair to win a gold medal in the Paralympics and became a world-class racer should inspire athlete around the globe that any athlete can make it no matter the challenge they face.

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Barbara Jordan 

Barbara Jordan was an American civil right leader. She was the first African-American to be elected as a Senate in Texas after the reconstruction. Barbera was also the first southern black female to be elected to the U.S House of Representatives. The fact that she was able to do all of this and she is a wheelchair user is just amazing. The condition that she was diagnosed with was called multiple sclerosis. With this condition, it’s progressive and it affects the brain and the spinal cord and limits movements drastically. Although she was diagnosed with this condition she still managed to do her thing and accomplish what she accomplished. You would think because of her having to be in a wheelchair it would oppose deep challenges but in her case, she didn’t see them as roadblock yet she used it as motivation to do what she wanted to do.