FOUR KIDS WHO SPEND THEIR LIVES IN WHEELCHAIRS GO ZERO-G ON NICK NEWS WITH LINDA ELLERBEE: THE VIEW FROM MY CHAIR PREMIERING NOV. 16 ON NICKELODEON
NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2008 – There are kids all around the world who, for one physical reason or another, will live much of their lives in wheelchairs. What is it like to be them? What do you think it would be like for you? Four extraordinary kids invite us into their world and their lives, asking us to really see the “view from my chair,” and then, along with Emmy Award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee, they go on a Zero-Gravity flight in which they achieve weightlessness, on Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: The View From My Chair, premiering Sunday, Nov. 16, at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.
“A friend of mine who has used a wheelchair for many years reminded me that the problem is not the chair — it’s gravity. So we thought it might be fun to go on an adventure where we could leave gravity behind,” said Ellerbee.”
Juan, from Tampa, Fla., who has muscular dystrophy, says of his life, “When I first started to be in the chair… people started staring at me. I started to feel kind of weird and I said, ‘Why are they staring at me?’ But I’ve never been ashamed of being in a wheelchair.’”
Nia, from Bridgeport, Conn, who’s in a wheelchair because of a spinal cord injury suffered in a car accident when she was four-years-old, has a love-hate relationship with her chair. “My chair is both my friend and my enemy. It is one, my friend because it’s helping me get around and it helps me do things; and two, it is my enemy because it just like taunts me there saying, ‘Ha ha, you can’t stand.’ ” She added, “I do believe that there is going to be a cure for me, and if there’s not, then there really is a reason why I’m in this chair and I’m just gonna live my life in this chair.”
Chase, from Smyrna, Tenn, who has Cerebral Palsy, says, “I go bowling, I go out to eat, I go to the movies, I go to the mall. I can get around as much as regular people can get around, just in a different way… Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to walk, when people say they pray for me, and I think about going to heaven and being able to walk.”
Wensday, from Dover, Arkansas, who was diagnosed with Spina Bifida, says, “I’m the only kid in my school that’s in a wheelchair, and when there’s a new student at my school, I always try to talk to them so that way they don’t jump to conclusions before they can really think about what’s wrong with me. And then they see me with my friends and they see, ‘Oh, she’s regular.’”
Technorati Tags: Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal Cord Injury, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, The View From My Chair, Nickelodeon, Wheelchair, Kids, Spina Bifida, Cerebral Palsy
Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.
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