What She Lacks in Mobility, She Makes Up for in Attitude

Elizabeth was paralyzed in June 2000 when a car ran a red light, t-boning her Chevy Blazer. Her car rolled seven times, throwing Elizabeth out the driver-side window and pinning her underneath.

Diagnosed with quadriplegia because of the location of the injury, she now uses a power wheelchair to get around both inside her home and in the community. She does have some limited use of her arms, but reports numbness in them.

What Elizabeth now lacks in mobility, she makes up for in character and attitude. Elizabeth has volunteered as a long-term care ombudsman and peer visitor for people with spinal cord injuries at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana. She will graduate in May with a master’s degree in social work from Indiana University’s school of social work. Her goal: To do rehabilitation work at a hospital and to affect other’s lives in a positive way.

Elizabeth has been a client of CICOA since 2001. She receives four hours each week of homemaker assistance, and personal care every other day to help with bathing.

“With my busy schedule — between school and work and taking care of my son — having these services really helps me. CICOA helps me keep everything together,” she said.