Gloucester County, Va. (WTKR) – Alyssa Briggs has a simple wish.
“I just…I want to pursue my dreams and I want to do something that an able-bodied person can do,” Briggs told NewsChannel 3’s Todd Corillo.
The 20-year-old Gloucester woman is competing in a nationwide contest through National Mobility Awareness Month sponsored by the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association.
She’s in the running to win a fully-equipped handicapped accessible van that would allow her to drive using hand-controls.
Take Action and help Alyssa win by voting for her using this link.
“If I win, I would get a van that is handicapped accessible and I would be able to go to college and just have my independence so it would mean a lot to me,” Briggs said.
Briggs uses a wheelchair to get around. She’s paralyzed from the waist down after a car crash days before Thanksgiving 2000 severed her spinal cord.
“I was in the hospital for quite a long time to recover and learn how to live my new life,” Briggs stated. “I've had 13 surgeries ever since the car accident.”
All that time in the hospital has inspired her career trajectory.
“I want to be an ultrasound technician. I've always dreamed of being in the medical field because I spent most of my childhood in the hospital and I always thought the hospital was like a second home to me,” Briggs explained.
She’s hoping to win the van so can have her independence and be able to drive to college, rather than having to rely on others.
“Well it's very hard. I always ask one of my parents or my friends to come pick me up and they have no problem with it, but I always feel like I'm trouble asking them,” Briggs said.
“Just winning this van would help so much. So I can have my independence and do anything any other 20 year old can do,” she continued.
You can Take Action and help Alyssa win!
Click on this link to vote for Alyssa
You can vote once every 24 hours per e-mail address.
