The Derby City Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association Network- Serving Kentuckiana.
Message From the President
Dear Members & Friends-
March's meeting will be held at Frazier Institute, 220 Abraham Flexnor Way, Louisville, in the 10th floor dining room at 6:30 p.m. The speaker for March will be Paul Erway with Superior Van & Mobility. He will be discussing adaptive vehicle modifications, potential funding sources, and the latest innovations.
April's meeting will be held at Frazier Institute, 220 Abraham Flexnor Way, Louisville, in the 10th floor dining room at 6:30 p.m.
- David Allgood
From shreveporttimes.com, February 16, 2007 edition.
DESIGNERS ROLL OUT CHIC WHEELCHAIRS By Adam Edleman
If you can't stand up, stand out. That has been Marilyn Hamilton's motto since she was paralyzed from the waist down in a hang-gliding accident almost 20 years ago. And in the midst of New York's glitzy Fashion Week, one group of perseverant women showed they shared her philosophy. With style.
The event last week marked the inaugural fashion show for Discovery Through Design, a nonprofit that raises money for spinal cord injury research and paralyzed women. Their Rolling With Style Gala, at New York's Cipriani 42nd Street, showcased stylish wheelchairs designed by some of the top names in the fashion industry.
"It's time for us to celebrate and honor the lifestyles and abilities of women in wheelchairs," says Hamilton, who is one of four Discovery Through Design founders and creator of the ultra-light Quickie wheelchair. "We have the same desires and same opportunities to participate in society and contribute in remarkable ways, and I just don't think society knows yet."
Under the Romanesque arches and lavish curtains at the restaurant, each designer had a turn to impress.
For each fashion line, traditional models strutted down the runway. They were followed by one of four "roll" models in attire and wheelchair custom-created by the same designer. The roll models were selected by Discovery Through Design after an essay competition and interviews.
"As a woman in a wheelchair, I get stared at," says roll model Melissa Holley, 25, of Nashville from her new wheelchair, adorned in elegant black leather. "Now I'm getting stared at because I'm so fashionable. It's very exciting." Holley, who just earned her Master's degree in organizational management from Vanderbilt University, has been in a wheelchair since 2000, when a car wreck left her a Paraplegic. Her new chair was designed by Marc Bouwer.
Nicole Miller, St. John and Kimora Lee Simmons also designed wheelchairs for other models: Jenny Smith, 34, of Louisville, who works for a nonprofit that provides wheelchairs for the developing world; Michele Boardman, 20, of Harleysville, Pa., a biology major at Arcadia University near Philadelphia; and Rosemarie Rosetti, Ph.D., 53, of Columbus, Ohio, a speaker, author, and consultant.
Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes emceed the event, and pop singer/actress Shani Rigsbee and former pop star turned adult contemporary singer Deborah Gibson performed. But it was the roll models, the Discovery Through Design "chair women" as they call themselves, and other honorees who stole the show. A crowd of 600 applauded when Army Staff Sgt. Eva Cochran, of Springfield, Ill., a paralyzed vet wounded in Afganastan, won the Rolling With Style award. The money raised—nearly $1 million— was donated to the Christopher Reeve Foundation, the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and the SCI Project at Rutgers.
