By: Leah Abell
Hi my name is Leah. I am 18 years old and I have Cerebral Palsy. I’m a senior at Apollo High School. Having a disability is not a big deal to me. If you look at me and not my wheelchair you will see I’m a normal person, but just a little different.
What I would like people to know about me is that I like the same things as other teenagers. I like going to concerts, texting my friends, going out to eat, going to the movies, posting pictures on Instagram and Facebook, Snap-Chatting and hanging out with my friends.
When I see someone else with a disability that is doing something no one thought they could ever do it really motivates me. It gets me excited and I want to work hard to do things people think that I could never do. Like right now I have two friends in wheelchairs that are going to college and they have inspired me to want to go to college. So I am looking at all kinds of potential options that might be available for me after high school.
I’ve had several personal triumphs. Talking is one of those. My parents thought I may never be able to talk and now I can carry on a conversation just like everyone else.
Learning to drive a power wheelchair was very life changing. It is not as easy as people might think, especially when your vision isn’t as good as others. My vision is described as trying to look through a piece of Swiss cheese, so that makes driving a chair a little more challenging, but I was able to figure out a way.
I have also had the opportunity to participate in a lot of 5K races and several triathlons with Team Karlie where I am pushed in a jogger stroller by a runner and that makes me feel amazing because I feel like I’m really running. Like when Andrew Lee, my good friend, pushes me really fast I actually feel like I’m the one running and it feels really good. Or in the triathlon, my dad pulls me in a trailer on his bicycle. I love the way that feels. It’s so relaxing. He goes really fast and I just sit back, listen to music and cheer him on. I love it!
I have overcome a lot of medical struggles– just to name a few, cortical visual impairment, hip surgery and scoliosis. One of my biggest surgeries was a 10-hour surgery to put rods in my back to help straighten out the curve.
I also have social struggles; I can’t hang out or go with friends whenever I want. It takes a lot of planning in advance just to hang out with some friends. I can only go places in my wheelchair accessible van. This is the part of having a disability that can really stink at times. There are very few of my friends that are capable and comfortable taking me out without my parents and where I can feel just like a regular teenager. I just want to be with people that are comfortable with me and just treat me like one of them. When we go out we have a blast! However, sometimes a friend might end up not being able to go last minute and it really upsets me. I understand it happens though, but for me, I just can’t pick up and plan something else last minute and then I get sad when I’m at home with nothing to do. But it’s just part of it and I try not to let it get me down very long.
Living in Owensboro with a disability is mostly good because there are a lot of people like me with disabilities. We have great programs. Owensboro has an awesome community of places or groups that work with people with disabilities. My favorite is Puzzle Pieces, but we also have Wendell Foster’s Campus, Dream Riders, Team Karlie, Special Olympics and some others that I am not involved with directly such as GRADSA.
One thing about living in Owensboro that can be challenging is that I have to travel to Louisville for most of my medical care. Also, the wheelchair ramps on sidewalk curbs are not standardized for the most part. They need to be brighter and look the same. For instance some are painted yellow, some are blue, some aren’t painted and some have yellow painted just where the curb drops off the side of the ramp. It’s very confusing to someone with a visual impairment. They are very hard to see and all of them are different depending on where you are. I’ve had many close calls when attempting to navigate out in public. When I drive off a curb it takes several people to help me get unstuck as my chair weighs around 350 pounds!
I love that Owensboro supports The Color Blast because it supports many of the organizations that I have directly benefited from such as Puzzle Pieces, Team Karlie, Dream Riders and Wendell Foster. I have several friends that benefit from GRADSA. For instance, Puzzle Pieces gives people with different disabilities, including me, an opportunity to go out in the community and hang out with friends during the day or after school. It also keeps me from having to be home all the time after school and be bored with no one to talk to. Team Karlie gives me the opportunity to compete in races by being a rider in a jogging stroller. I never thought I would get to be on a team! I also used to go ride horses at Dream Riders and I loved it. Bandit was my favorite horse. I would get so much relief from riding on the horse. My muscles would all relax. It really helped my muscle stiffness with my cerebral palsy. I have received therapies from Wendell Foster Campus and someday I may live there. I have several friends that live there now. Our community is so lucky to have these places.
Leah is a senior at Apollo High School. Although diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, she does not let this slow her down in her life’s dreams. After graduation she hopes to attend college for journalism and aspires to write articles for a newspaper or magazine as well as writing short stories.
Inspired by Leah?
What better way to show your support than by participating or helping with the Color Blast 5K on March 19, 2016! Amanda Owen, Puzzle Pieces Executive Director, provided Owensboro Parent with more details.
What is the Color Blast 5K?
A 5K run/walk color celebration to recognize the positive impact individuals with special needs have on our lives, to acknowledge their abilities, and help spread awareness from families to friends to individuals!
The Objective of the Color Blast 5K Event:
Participants wear anything and everything white and along the run/walk route, participants will be “BLASTED” with a safe and non-toxic colored powder at each mile marker and the finish line. The color fun continues to the After Party for music, food, crazy fun, and a group color shower! We are encouraging families, schools, church groups, friends, and business groups to get involved in this non-competitive 5K event to have fun and support a great cause!
Don’t miss the opportunity to have fun with us! The proceeds raised will directly benefit the six organizations who are contributing a portion to the WHAS Crusade for Children. The WHAS Crusade for Children, an organization based at WHAS TV studios in Louisville, KY, raise and distributes millions of dollars in Kentucky and Indiana each year for special needs children; last year they raised and distributed over 5 million dollars.
We average raising around $60,000 each year and all organizations benefit financially from this event. We all are excited about the community connection and support we receive.
How you can help:
We love for our community to be involved in this event however they want whether that is through volunteering, running, walking, or just simply coming to cheer along others. To find out more information visit our website www.colorblast5K.org. Contact Amanda Owen at Puzzle Pieces, [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering. The next best thing to participating is VOLUNTEERING. You can register online or pick up a paper registration at any of the five organizations.
This is the largest 5K in Owensboro, and the only collaborative fundraiser that you can do which supports five local nonprofit organizations!