Disability Doesn’t Hold Teen Back
As seen on EyeWitness News 13 with Dave Calabro
Noblesville - While many Hoosiers head to the pool or lake to enjoy some free time over the holiday weekend, a Noblesville teen is giving new meaning to determination. Overcoming obstacles is no problem for Alexis Allen. She was born with spina bifida and is confined to a wheelchair. But you would never know it from the 13-year-old’s attitude.
“It don’t stop me from anything. I figure, just do what you want to do, because you can’t let it stop you. Otherwise, I would be some boring person, I mean, I would!” she said.
She’s enjoying summer, just like other kids, and even took a leap of faith at a local lake.
“I don’t like the lake water, it just really scares me and I’ve never been in the lake,” Allen said. “So it was pretty big for me to, like, actually get in the water, but once I got in, I loved it.”
She did more than conquer her fear of the water, she learned to ski.
“I just got in. I didn’t realize the boat was going at first, so I was just holding on and all of a sudden, they started going. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Please don’t make me fall out!” she said.
She gives a smile and a wave from behind the boat, enjoying a sense of freedom from her wheelchair, at least for a few minutes. The Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana and a host of volunteers gave Alexis a gift she will never forget.
“It was fun. I loved it. I’m really glad I got to do it, because If I didn’t get to do it, I wouldn’t have gotten to share the experience with all the other folks,” Allen said. “And my friends are here, too!”
Living life to the fullest, Allen is determined to be just like the other kids, not letting her wheelchair get in the way of her life.
“No, I don’t. I am a pretty happy person, so I do what I want to do and don’t do what I don’t want to do,” she said.