Perry Township woman seeks Ms. Wheelchair title
As posted By William J. Booher
Posted: June 21, 2008
Katrina Gossett, a 2002 graduate of Perry Meridian High School, will represent Indiana in July in the 36th annual Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant in Rockville, Md.
Gossett, 23, who will begin her final year of classes at the University of Chicago Law School in the fall, was diagnosed as an infant with spinal muscular atrophy, a form of muscular dystrophy.
She said she became interested in the Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant when she read a story about it in the Muscular Dystrophy Association magazine.
She was chosen to represent the state by Samantha Smith, Ms. Wheelchair Indiana 2008, who also is Indiana’s Ms. Wheelchair coordinator.
The national pageant, featuring contestants from 25 states and the District of Columbia, will crown a winner July 26.
Gossett said the national titleholder will attend various events throughout the country, including the annual Rose Bowl festivities in California.
A future attorney, Gossett said that if she were to be selected the new Ms. Wheelchair America, she would seek to end any type of discrimination against people with disabilities.
“The community at large needs to see people with disabilities participating in every aspect of life,” she said.