by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Monika Kuszyńska

A lead singer of a popular polish band in the early 2000′s who went on to forge her own successful solo career, Monika Kuszyńska is a woman with a spinal cord injury you may not know…but not for long.

The funny thing, she’s been living loudly in her native Poland but echoes of her awesomeness have yet to trickle to the States, which is why we’re excited to bring her story to our readers. Very rarely do you see a paralyzed woman rock out like she does and at her elite level.

A soulful artist poised to perform in one of the world’s biggest singing contests – Eurovision 2015 – this is the unforgettable Monika Kuszyńska. Read this entry

by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Michael Graves

You may have heard of Michael Graves’ before, especially if you shop at Target for kitchen gadgets. A man who had been paralyzed for only 11 years but designed both memorable buildings and high-style health products (and teaching design at Princeton along the way), Michael’s goal in architecture was to always be about making functional things more beautiful. And boy did he succeed.

Michael is the mind behind hundreds of stunning buildings all around world, including Disney’s headquarters in Burbank, California. He was a powerhouse architect since the ’80s and continued designing until the day of his death. A few health setbacks never turned off Michael Graves’ desire to design, it only fueled his desire to design.

His disability inspired him to start thinking about redesigning everything in the healthcare world too, from patient rooms to wheelchairs, and he’s come up with some beautiful stuff. Read on for the backstory of one of America’s greatest architects, Michael Graves. Read this entry

by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Wes Bandemer

He may have grown up a country boy, but Wes Bandemer is no longer living the simple country life. This is former motocross racer has transformed into a passionate advocate for embryonic stem cells, having traveled to India twice. And the moment he has regained is huge.

But it hasn’t been an easy road. Wes had to work hard to find funding and still relies on a wheelchair and PCAs everyday. His dream of becoming 100% independent may still yet have to come to fruition, but he has big hopes it may one day happen.

For more on a quadriplegic who refuses to put a timeline on his recovery, this is the effervescently optimistic Wes Bandemer. Read this entry

by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Carolyn Pioro

Fifteen years ago, Carolyn Pioro’s life forever changed. Carolyn was a circus performer for a Toronto-based company, Cirque Sublime, where she was a rope/bungee trapeze performer and trained with a group of three others on the flying trapeze. Read this entry