We spoke to these ten wheelchair users who followed their passions to build the careers they always wanted. From a fisherman to a neurosurgeon, they were able to figure out how to make even the most complex professions accessible. Click the links to read more about a day in their lives, and join United Spinal Association to see how we can help you realize your own employment goals.
Orthodontist Jeff Heinz 
Dr. Jeff Heinz became a T9 paraplegic in a motorcross accident while in dental school in 2011. Heinz returned to dental school only months after inpatient rehabilitation. “It was really hard,” he says, “but at that point I knew I had only two choices, one of which I could never live with, and another that would be a treacherous road but could ultimately let me regain the ‘normal’ that I longed for so badly.”
After a year of practicing general dentistry, he went back to school to specialize in orthodontics, eventually becoming the first wheelchair-using orthodontist in the U.S. “I love the transformations and seeing how giving someone a big, beautiful smile makes them light up like a Christmas tree,” he says.
Sportscaster Maria Serrao
Maria Serrao sits front-row at some of sport’s biggest events. As the only female TV sports broadcaster in the country who uses a wheelchair, she’s covered Super Bowls, World Series, Stanley Cup Finals and more. “There are so many moments that you just kind of pinch yourself and say, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I was there,’” she says.
In her early 20s, Serrao got out of a bad relationship and gained 50 pounds. Her doctor didn’t believe a wheelchair user could lose weight. She not only proved him wrong, but she teamed up with her personal trainer to produce a public access TV show and videos showing different ways wheelchair users could exercise.
Aware of her NFL knowledge, a Cox Media producer in San Diego invited her to host a show two years later, covering the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders. After a while they asked her to be their sports anchor and cover all the professional teams in LA.
For the past 15 years, she has worked for RPVtv in Rancho Palos Verde, California, which airs her weekly sports show.
Judge Tiiara N.A. Patton 
From the time she was in first grade, Judge Tiiara Patton always envisioned a career in law. A smart, talkative youngster who loved to watch Matlock with her family, Patton viewed being a lawyer as her way to escape poverty and create a better life for herself.
What she did not envision was becoming a T3 paraplegic at the age of 14 from an accidental shooting. But that did not deter her from pursuing her career path.
The Cleveland native earned her law degree from Ohio State University in 2001. “As a student activist in college, I thought I would end up being in-house counsel at a university when I graduated,” she says, “but during my third year of law school, I took a course in bankruptcy law and absolutely fell in love with it.”
After law school, she spent years as a bankruptcy trial lawyer, before being appointed as a federal judge in 2020. “Every day I have the honor of being a U.S. bankruptcy judge, and hopefully I can be an example that your life circumstances do not have to be a barrier to your life possibilities,” Patton says. “I am so very proud that I serve in this role, and that I get to do it as a Black, disabled woman.”
Neurosurgeon Dr. Jesse Lawrence
At 8 months old, Jesse Lawrence sustained a T9 spinal cord injury in a car accident. Growing up, he was in and out of the hospital, undergoing multiple major surgeries. Those life-changing experiences as a child led Lawrence to pursue a degree in medicine.
He enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his medical degree. While in medical school, he shadowed a neurosurgeon and observed an intricate, 14-hour surgery to remove a brain tumor.
“It was so amazing that I stayed for the entire surgery. The complexity of what they were doing was so amazing, as well as the uniqueness of the operation. I was like, wow, neurosurgery is what I have to do.”
Captain Tyler Turner 
Capt. Tyler Turner grew up on the bay and learned the ropes from his father, Capt. Jeurgen “J.T.” Turner. His road to captaining his own boat took a detour in 2008 when he broke his sternum in a motorcycle accident, sustaining a T4 spinal cord injury.
He dedicated the next five years to rehab, mastering his knee-ankle-foot orthotic braces and, as a paraplegic, figuring out how to do all the tasks required of a captain.
It took over two years of appeals to convince the Coast Guard, but in 2013 he satisfied their demands and went on to earn his merchant mariner master license.
Today, Turner spends 200-225 days a year on the water, with most excursions clocking in at 6-12 hours.
Interior Designer Maegan Blau
Maegan Blau sustained a C8 spinal cord injury right before enrolling at Arizona State University as an environmental science major. But when her postgraduation search for an accessible apartment became a nightmare, her career path took a dramatic turn to interior design.
Frustrated by tour after tour of “accessible” units with nothing more than grab bars in the shower and one-to-two-year wait lists at all the complexes with good accessibility, Blau decided to buy a home and renovate it to fit her accessibility needs.
Inspired by her own experience and driven to help other wheelchair users, she enrolled in a six-month, in-person certification program at the American Institute of Interior Design.
In 2018, Blau started her interior design business, Blue Copper Design. The company offers three levels of consulting and design — Full Service, Design Only, and Barrier-Free Consulting — so clients can decide how much help they need.
Recording Studio Owner Eric Sills 
For Eric Sills, going to work every day is like having a front row seat to a concert. As the owner of Stone Soup Recording Studios in Maumee, Ohio, the 58-year-old engineer has worked with local and national recording artists, including Grammy-winning music producer Jameil Aossey.
After high school, Sills attended the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University and majored in electronic technology. He was working as an electrical engineer in 2003 when he sustained a T8 spinal cord injury in a car accident.
He stopped playing drums, but didn’t lose his love for music, passing it down to his two children. His son inspired him to start his own recording studio. “My son wanted to attend a recording camp but was too young to apply, so I suggested why don’t we set up a few computers in the basement and start recording on our own,” he says.
“All of a sudden all those recording techniques I studied in college came back to me, and it turned into something we really enjoyed doing.”
Massage Therapist Erica Ladenthin
Seven years ago, massage therapist Erica Ladenthin, had a clear vision of opening her own spa. That was put on hold because in 2018, doctors diagnosed her with a rare and aggressive form of cervical cancer.
After months of radiation and chemo, she had beaten the odds and was getting her career and life back on track, or so she thought. The radiation caused damage to her spinal cord and she began using a wheelchair full-time.
“It was devastating. I was just starting to build back my massage business. I knew I wanted to get back to it. I just didn’t know what that would look like.” Her massage teacher had a hydraulic table and suggested she practice doing full-body massages on her.
The table allowed Ladenthin to adjust the height of the table so she could roll her wheelchair underneath and get close enough to a client without overstraining her body. Through all the trials and tribulations, she never lost faith that she’d reach her goal of owning her own spa.
In February 2025, she opened Rolling River Spa in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
Chaplain Cesar Galan
Father Cesar Galan is a beloved and popular member of the staff at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, where he serves as the hospital’s chaplain. As he wheels through the halls visiting patients, it’s a full circle experience for Galan, who was once a patient at St. Francis during one of the worst times in his life.
In 2001, while at a friend’s house, Galan — then in his late 20s — and his brother were shot multiple times in a gang-related confrontation. They were rushed to St. Francis, where his brother tragically passed away and Galan sustained a T4 spinal cord injury.
“While I was in the hospital, I struck up a friendship with the chaplain. When I looked at him, I saw something that I really wanted in my life — and that was peace. That peace led me to say yes to God,” says Galan. A year after the shooting, he began volunteering as a chaplain at St. Francis.
After years of volunteering, he became a religious brother and eventually entered the seminary to become a priest. In 2023, he was ordained and became Los Angeles’ first paraplegic priest.
Pastry Chef Jessica Kruger
Jessica Kruger doesn’t mind when people call her stubborn. Stubbornness has given her strength in moments of uncertainty, ever since falling from a ladder at age 15 and becoming an incomplete quadriplegic.
Stubbornness is what she relied on when two pastry schools told her there was no place for someone like her in their programs. Undeterred, she found a school where she was welcomed. So, when the Vancouver, Canada, native finally graduated from pastry school in 2019 and started her own business, “The Stubborn Baker” seemed like the perfect name.
While her business has since shut down, she continues creating custom cakes, cookies and cupcakes to help customers celebrate the milestones in their lives. Her Instagram page is flooded with pictures of her amazing edible art.
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