When Amelia was growing up, there were times when she would lose feeling in half her body or have random muscle spasms. Amelia was an avid soccer player, but over time as her symptoms began to worsen, she was constantly in pain and soon lost the ability to play. As a teenager, she was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which impacts Amelia’s overall balance & mobility.

As Amelia adjusted to life with this diagnosis, she found her new community within a basketball wheelchair team. Amelia has been able to use a loaner basketball wheelchair, but as it does not fit her properly, it causes additional and unnecessary pain and discomfort.

“I have finally found a home in a community that understands me, but in order to keep playing, I need a basketball wheelchair.”

As Amelia says, “I think it is easy for people who do not struggle with mobility to underestimate the consequences of poor accessibility, but the consequences are not small. A wheelchair represents everything I can do, not everything I can’t.”

This summer, Amelia was awarded a scholarship for a basketball wheelchair that will fit her properly!