As a kid in a mainstream primary school, Charmaine Tan had resigned herself to sitting in a corner and reading books because she was not able to play with her normal-sighted classmates. “When I was young, I did not have any…
Para sports has been gaining much momentum and recognition in Singapore. Local para-athlete Zac Leow, who sustained injuries to his spinal cord following a bicycle accident, has certainly felt the increasing support from society, meeting people on the streets who…
In May of 2000, my fourteen-year- old daughter looked forward to making the volleyball team at her new school. Instead, Beth would begin her freshman year with a C6-7 spinal cord injury, the result of a car accident near our hometown in…
Kevan has spinal muscular atrophy, and most days he gets around via wheelchair. When Kevan decided to travel across Europe, he didn’t want to miss out on the more rugged areas where his wheelchair wouldn’t go. So he and a few…
Donna Thomson recognizes that every caregiver will be thrown into a life they did not expect. Today, Donna is caregiver to her son Nicholas, who has severe cerebral palsy. She, too, lives a life that was different from what she…
“One of the most common questions I get is ‘How do you drive?'” shares Emily. Emily has Larsen syndrome, a genetic physical disability that affects her joints and muscles, and she is a power wheelchair user. To answer the burning question…
Alan uses a power wheelchair, and when it comes to taking cruises, he is a self-proclaimed veteran. He loves doing so because it is a great way to travel and explore new places, and he has found this to be…
Margarita Elizondo is a survivor of attempted murder. She was shot in the neck, and that damaged her ability to speak. She had to mouth to her daughter to call the necessary emergency hotlines during the attack. She also lost…
Since she was a kid, Charmaine Tan thought up of many strategies to keep reading. Born with retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive deterioration that causes eventual total vision loss, Charmaine had tunnel vision and only lost her ability to read two years…
“The most important thing I’ve learned from being a parent is to put my needs aside and put my family’s first.” Eric Anderson is the father of 3-year-old Miley Love. When he was 18 years old, Eric had a C6 spinal…