Erin's Ride

There are moments that shake you to your core and change the way you look at the world. One of my biggest life-changing moments came in 2009, when my mom was involved in a serious accident that totaled my family’s wheelchair-accessible van.
The accident not only left my loved ones at a tremendous loss financially, but it also stripped my independence away. I’m a writer, poet, and journalist with cerebral palsy who wants to do and see as much as I can in life. Without the proper and safe means to travel, however, that seemingly small goal has become a large, time consuming chore over the past ten years. It takes a two-person team to get my 200-pound motorized chair loaded into the back of my mom’s old, outdated vehicle, limiting me to when and where I’m able use my chair in public places.