It’s the second greatest month of the year (my birthday month is in October) August is #smaawarnessmonth and we want to get everyone talking about SMA, accessibility and create awareness around inclusion for physically disabled people. This month join the SMA awareness challenge and paint one nail pink. Girls, guys, and children let’s share these stories and pictures far and wide. Share your pictures of your nails on social media with the #smaawarnessmonth and tag Kerry Walsh Motivational Speaker. Share your stories of SMA or experiences with an SMA warrior. Let’s get people talking!
August is SMA awareness month and I am going to share my SMA story. My story isn’t about all the doctor’s appointments or the technical jargon, my story is about the opportunities I have been so lucky to have and my view from my wheelchair. My story started when I was one year old when my parents had realized that I wasn’t developing like my sister was, they took me to the doctor where I was diagnosed as having low muscle tone. A couple of months later after trying a lot of physical therapy I was sent for a biopsy in my neck. I was then further diagnosed with SMA. My parents were told to take me home and just enjoy the time we had. I had a life expectancy of 5 years old. I cannot quite imagine how it must have felt when I turned five waiting with bated breath to see what was going to happen. I’m lucky that I was so young and therefore I don’t remember much. I managed to live a pretty normal life and I’ve always had a never say “no” attitude. I’ll always give it a go because why not at least try once. When I was five I received my first wheelchair this is definitely one of my biggest defining moments. It was like I was born to drive a wheelchair. No one will ever fully understand what a wheelchair means to a disabled person. My wheelchair is my opportunity to live a full life with some independence. I always say that I don’t know a life where I’m not in a wheelchair therefore, I don’t know any better! It is like any one’s life as there are ups and downs. Trust me there have been some really scary times but we just choose to focus on the good times. With SMA being a degenerative disease the hardest part is everything is constantly changing, I’m not a fan of change at the best of times. I know that I’m going to get weaker but I get to determine how that happens and I’m choosing to make the most of every day that I get. There is so much that I want to still experience in life. I believe that everyone has a story to share and I decided to share my story. Life is precious and we don’t know how much we are going to have so I believe it’s important to take advantage of every day and make your life something worth remembering. I want to share my story and encourage people to take advantage of their lives, to be happy with the life they have, and to be someone worth remembering! I aim to change the view around disabled people and give them a fighting chance in life!