Page 75 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2019

EMILY
OLIVER
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photo courtesy of Emily Oliver
Life as we know it can change in an instant, a fact that 18-year-old Emily Oliver was confronted with in 2015. After being involved in a car accident, Oliver sustained serious injuries to her spinal cord, leaving
her paraplegic. In the same accident, she also lost a close friend.
Injuries to her ninth thoracic vertebrae have caused motor and sensory impairment in
her lower extremities, but Oliver hasn’t let that stop her from following her dreams.
She recently competed in the state’s first ever Ms. Wheelchair Mississippi Pageant and was crowned the 2019 winner.
The pageant aims to empower women in wheelchairs, which Oliver experienced firsthand. “You look at normal beauty standards and you feel like you don’t fit that mold,” said Oliver. “Your average woman is not sitting under a hunk of metal, so it’s nice to be around other women in wheelchairs and not feel like ‘oh she’s prettier than me.’ I was told I was beautiful
so many times that night, and it felt good to be seen as a person, not a person in a wheelchair.”
A large portion
of the competition is based
on the participant’s speaking platform. Oliver’s platform, ‘The Disability Behind the Disability,’ delves into the every day struggles of people with disabilities that those without them might not understand.
“Every disability is different, and we all go through things that many people couldn’t even imagine,” she said. “I want to make it easier for people with disabilities to be open and comfortable with themselves.
A lot of the things we suffer
from — such as spasms, nerve pain, and bladder and bowel issues — the average, everyday person won’t understand. We find some of these things very embarrassing or difficult to explain, and it can be hard for us to share or be comfortable with ourselves.”
Oliver is already busy booking speaking engagements and is starting a foundation in honor of the friend she lost. She is currently a senior at Harrison Central High School and looks forward to pursuing a teaching degree after she graduates.
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April 2019 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 75
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