03/08/2026
Meet Ellen, a recipient of an Activity-Based Therapy grant from pushpushpray.org for 2025. Ellen says: What makes me “unaverage” is that, at 18, just after graduating high school, my life changed forever. I was a passenger in a devastating car accident that left me paralyzed from the chest down. In an instant, I went from being an active, able-bodied teenager to adapting to life in a wheelchair. Before the accident, my world revolved around softball. From first-grade T-ball to competitive fast-pitch, I lived and breathed the sport. I was recruited to play college softball as a pitcher—something I had worked my whole life for. But just weeks before I was set to begin that journey, everything changed. The accident was tragic. The driver didn’t survive, another passenger suffered broken bones and trauma, and I was life-flighted to the hospital with a broken neck, a dislocated hip, and a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). I was in a coma, on a breathing machine, and spent nearly six months in acute rehabilitation. While my brain injury has fully healed, my spinal cord injury left me with paralysis, limited arm function, and the loss of many bodily functions. Activity-Based Therapy (ABT) has been instrumental in strengthening my body, improving my mobility, and teaching me how to navigate my “new normal.” I firmly believe that with faith, science, and relentless effort, I will continue to regain function. Recovery is my priority, but it’s not my only one. Over the past ten years, I’ve learned to define myself beyond my physical abilities and explore who I am as a person. I still have much to figure out, but my biggest goal is to become as independent as possible while maintaining my health, strength, and overall well-being.
