Taking a shower every day for most people is a given. But when you're paralyzed, it's not something you take for granted. I am lucky to have an attendant in the morning to help me wash my face, change my clothes, brush my teeth, and get me out of my bed into my electric wheelchair. I hate bed baths, especially since I can only feel 15% of my body. And it's very difficult and messy  to wash your hair in the bed. Bed Baths do not come close to the feeling of feeling warm running water in the morning.
 
However, I can't just use any old chair in the bathtub. in my apartment.  The shower tub transfer system I need be able to utilize my bathtub (since I don't have a shower) is upwards of $3000. So I am asking for your help in this endeavor. My current shower chair bench is on its last leg literally; there is huge crack in it that makes it hugely unsafe. So please help me raise funds for me to purchase a new shower tub transfer system. Thank you for making a necessary daily activity a reality for me in the future.

I'm just a regular 40-year-old woman dealing  with becoming  Paralyzed from the chest down 14 years ago in 2002. One day I was in school on my way to becoming a doctor, the next minute I was a Quadraplegic in ICU constantly surrounded by doctors. Now my world consists of living life in a completely differently from the way it used to be. Gone are the carefree dreams of youth and freedom; now I am attached to my wheelchair, my ramps, my hoyer lift, and many other accommodations that make life possible.

My name is Usha Sadhwani, and I was 26 year old when I was involved in a terrible ordeal and as a result became a quadriplegic at the cervical 7 level. I am paralyzed from the chest down. I can move my arms, but have limited function in my hands and fingers (feeling in only three fingers). I cannot feel or move anything below my chest. I need a power wheelchair to get around and need someone to bathe, dress, cook, transfer and feed me daily. 

It has been 14 years but I still persevere and am a survivor. My accident kept me from completing medical school, so I went on to complete a Masters in Health Education at the Tulane School of Public Health. I did not want to stay home and collect unemployment and disability.

I seek to be positive role model for the kids I tutor and people in the community. Everywhere I go, I positively promote and highlight what I can do, not my limits. I look at those limits and change them to challenges to overcome. My family and friends don't treat me like I have a disability because I don’t act that way. I try to be normal: job, responsibility, living, driving, and contributing.

 A role model is someone positive in community. Many people who are disabled isolate themselves and further handicap themselves. We need to show that we are still ourselves: be active, go out in community, and show that you are still alive. However, transportation, wheelchair and medical equipment, nurse aides, etc. are all very expensive.

One of my many inspirational doctors told me to find one thing every day that I could not previously do and find a way to do it. It started with simple things like brushing my hair, doing my own flossing, or reaching for a towel. One task at a time, one day at a time… I want to show the world that you can do and be anything you set your mind to. If my quadriplegic self can do it, you can do it.



Now I want you to help me in my daily struggle. I have so many medical, transportation, and living expenses…I am trying to keep afloat, and it is hard to when a single wheelchair repair can cost thousands. That’s where I need your help.

  Please DONATE.