When a spinal cord injury happens, most people experience a drastic life change. The process of finding a way of accepting your new body, new circumstances, and new life can be a difficult road.
Steph Aiello, a quadriplegic and beauty expert, and Chelsie Hill, a paraplegic and professional dancer, get together for some real talk on acceptance after a spinal cord injury.
The friends just finished up a day at BeautyCon, an event where beauty industry professionals come together. Steph received some encouraging feedback from colleagues who just learned the story. Steph was paralyzed in a car accident in 2010 leaving her a quadriplegic with impaired hand function. After her injury, Steph continued to move forward with her chosen career as a makeup artist, and this was the first time that many of her beauty colleagues were learning of her injury and meeting her in person.
Getting positive feedback from her colleagues was a confidence booster, and also helped in her road to acceptance.
“My injury doesn’t take a break so that I can live my life. So why am I going to stop living my life because of my injury?”
Steph doesn’t want to make her life about her recovery. She simply wants to keep pushing forward and pursuing her dreams.
Both Steph and Chelsie have experienced the difficult road to accepting their injuries and their new lives that have resulted, and they know that setbacks are inevitable.
“We’re still gonna have those days where we’re like, ‘I’m just over it! Don’t give me a wheelchair!’ … “ says Chelsie. But if you are open to seeing your new life in a positive light, opportunities will open up for you.
“Think less of what you lost, and more of what you still have.”
Steph and Chelsie want others with SCI to know that the road to acceptance is bumpy – even for them. While they each have achieved success after their injuries, they did it by coming to terms with their new bodies – then blazing forward. And they want to encourage others to do the same.