The Campfire That Sparked The Movement

I sustained a SCI when I was a teenager and have learned to embrace life as a quadriplegic with as much energy and enthusiasm as I've always had, so of course I agreed to a camping trip with my girlfriend through the Blue Ridge Mountains for my birthday! Though we booked a wheelchair accessible campsite online, there was a "computer glitch" that left us without accommodations, resulting in us trying to "make do" with a tent site surrounded by timber fences and uneven stone walls that meant I had to sleep in the car and my girlfriend sat alone by a roaring campfire I could not even reach or access. For a while, I sat in my wheelchair by the road, watching her start the fire alone, feeling defeated and angry. But I guess that's the campfire that started it all, because at some point that night, we decided to turn our frustration into action, and instead of wishing for change, I decided to BE THE CHANGE!

We formed Wheelable Wilderness, a 501c3 nonprofit, dedicated to making the outdoors accessible to everyone through Kentucky's first all-terrain track wheelchair and adaptive equipment rental programs, community events and plans for a universally-designed, inclusive campground!