About me

It only takes one second for a person’s life to change in every single way. That thought flooded my mind looking down the long hospital hallway at Shepherd Center. Shepherd Center is a catastrophic rehabilitation hospital located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is considered one of the top rehab hospitals in the world for people following a spinal cord injury. And in February of 2001, I looked down its hallway sitting in a wheelchair being told I needed to push, all the way down, without stopping, because that was the only way I was going to move forward following my spinal cord injury.

My body was weak and sore at that time. Weeks before, I had been a passenger in a car wreck that caused me to sustain a spinal cord injury. Nevermind the fact that I really didn't even know what a spinal cord injury was. I had heard of Superman, Christopher Reeve, and how falling off a horse made most of his body paralyzed. Beyond that, this was a new world, totally foreign to me (and my family). For me, I was a backseat passenger in an old vehicle that only had a lap belt. So while I was wearing my seatbelt at the time of the wreck, it unfortunately did not hold in my upper body causing my back to break, my spinal cord to stretch, and half my body to immediately become paralyzed.

I was awake through the entire wreck and almost immediately became aware that my body would no longer be the same, and that my path ahead would likely be very different than what my 16-year-old self had thought only second, minutes, hours, and days before. I was uniquely in tune with my body at that time, understanding that so much of it was different after a one second change. It was all the circumstances surrounding my life that I was trying to figure out—like now being told my best bet was to get used to this loaner wheelchair they gave me until a more custom one to my size and body would arrive months later.

So, with my mouth wired shut from significant facial trauma from my wreck, a turtle shell back brace strapped on me to stabilize my back with its newly placed titanium rods, and even a cast on a foot I could no longer feel, I looked down the long hall, looked over at my PT, put my hands on my wheels and tried moving forward. I started pushing… and to be honest, I have never, ever stopped.

A little more about Kelley.

I remained awake through the wreck and quickly realized that I could no longer feel my legs. I was rushed to the trauma center in Chattanooga, Tennessee where multiple surgeries were performed to stabilize my health, and it was learned that I had sustained a spinal cord injury at the T-12 level. In the following days, my parents worked tirelessly to find the best rehabilitation hospital for me to begin to recover following my spinal cord injury. I was transferred to Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia where I received 2.5 months of rehabilitation, learning to relive my life from a wheelchair. While in rehabilitation, I maintained my school work, taking classes in the hospital, even running for class president from my hospital bed, and worked each day to rebuild my life, piece by piece, all from a wheelchair. Three months to the day of the wreck, I returned to Ooltewah High School in Ooltewah, Tennessee, and went on to graduate with my class as the student body president, homecoming queen, and in the top of my class academically.

I worked hard after my injury with the goal of moving away from home and going to college. And I did just that. After high school graduation, I attended Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama, where I spent my four years in college traveling the world (I even met my husband on a school trip to Russia!), participating in service projects, and investing time in advocacy projects focused on accessibility in rest stops in Alabama. I graduated with a degree in political science with the goal of continuing my education.

I went on to attend law school at the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville, Tennessee. I traveled the country in trial competitions, served as the President of the Student Bar Association, and took on initiatives to increase accessibility in the community through the Knoxville Independent Living Center with the mentorship of my law professor who was blind. I worked as a student attorney in the Innocence Clinic at the law school and spent a year focused on the exoneration of the first individual in the United States that was convicted through the use of mitochondrial DNA evidence. I also worked under the elected Public Defender, working in the courtroom most days to help defend the rights of my clients. I was selected to the Order of Barristers for my trial skills, and was recognized by the Dean for my leadership at law school. By the time I graduated law school, I knew exactly how I wanted to practice law: and that was by helping others, like myself, who had suffered a catastrophic injury.

Lawyer.

Advocate.

mom.

There is not a lot of information out there for women with spinal cord injuries on becoming pregnant or what to expect during pregnancy and birth. I ultimately had to look to social media groups which had other women with spinal cord injuries that had become moms to ease my fears based on all the uncertainties of the process. I have decided to include the Mom part to this page because being Mom is by far the most important job title I hold, and also because the more you see moms with disabilities the more normalized I hope it will come for the rest of society. I hope to one day go in public not under the watchful eyes of strangers wondering if I can manage in the community with my kids.

All on wheels.

#Keeppushing