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When Briana Walker joined Colours Wheelchairs as a model, she met Auti Angel, who was a wheelchair dancer and pioneer in the hip hop world. Auti opened the door for Briana to wheelchair dancing.
"Auti introduced me to wheelchair dancing and it's something I love to do. I'm very passionate about it. We perform together at Colours Wheelchairs trade shows. We demo the product together, provide entertainment and show what we can do in their wheelchair products. I also really like the little kids camps where we show kids with disabilities what they can do in a wheelchair," Briana explains. "That is our reward to see their faces light up and show them that anything is possible."
Briana's life changed with an accident on an Orange County, California, freeway in 2002 at the age of 23. When she fainted at the wheel of her black Honda Accord, she hit the cement median at 75 miles per hour. She had planned on marrying her boyfriend, but the accident took her life in a different direction.
"After I got hurt, it was too difficult for him to handle. It ended up being a blessing, because I need someone who won't run away from adversity, someone who will embrace challenge and say, 'Let's beat it together!' While it was heartbreaking at the time, it gave me so much motivation to move forward. We're still friends," Briana notes, "but everyone deals with situations differently and you have to accept that."
Since the accident, Briana has become an author of an uplifting book about her experiences, "Dance Anyway." She also serves as an Ambassador to the Life Rolls On Foundation as she's working on a second book.
"My first book 'Dance Anyway' is available on my website www.BrianaWalker.com. I wrote it to share my story and my message that life turns out best for those who make the best of the way life turns out. The second book 'Does this wheelchair make my butt look big?' is the book that I want people to see the humorous side of wheelchair life. I plan on releasing this book in 2009 and distributing it to the spinal cord rehabs in the USA so they can give it to the newly injured patients to help them develop a sense of humor in this new way of life. Laughter is the best medicine I believe. It definitely helped me get through some very trying times and the ability to laugh made it easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hospitals now give my book, 'Dance Anyway,' to people who have recently sustained a spinal cord injury," Briana explains. "As an Ambassador with the Life Rolls On Foundation I go into hospitals and rehabs and talk to people with spinal cord injuries. It's so important who you first meet after an injury as it will determine the path you will take. What type of example will you receive? If you meet someone negative, it may have a negative impact. Life is going to be different after an injury, but you have a choice. You can look at the positive. I try to be positive and use my sense of humor."
As a spokesperson for Overstock.com, Briana does not sit in her wheelchair to sell the products in commercial appearances.
"They gave me a choice and asked me, 'Do you want to sit in your wheelchair or on the couch?' I told them, if I were at home, I'd be sitting on the couch," Briana says, "It's not a publicity stunt or anything like that. I'm promoting Overstock.com and it shouldn't matter whether I'm in a wheelchair or not. Artists with disabilities want to be accepted as normal. In my role with Overstock.com, it's just about being a person."
As Briana has been requested around the world to share her story in person, she carries a strong message.
"I speak primarily to able-bodied communities. My platform is focused on overcoming adversity. Attitude is everything and I incorporate the lessons I've learned in my own life into that theme. Life is about choices and it's your choice how you're going to react to it."
As speaking engagement requests have been growing by word-of-mouth, she's appeared for groups as far away as Germany. Briana receives positive responses to her appearances.
In life, she rarely experiences discrimination but admits it has to do with your own individual attitude and interpretation.
"The way I look at it, if someone is uncomfortable or they stare, I see it as an opportunity first hand to educate. It's how I react to a situation that determines the outcome. There's always a way to turn it into an educational experience that leads toward acceptance. I look back to when I got hurt. I didn't know anyone who used a wheelchair," Briana remembers. "As time progressed, I could turn this experience into anything I wanted it to be. Again, it was my choice to turn it around and share my message with more people."
To be able to continue dancing has been a gift. "I'm grateful to Auti. She's had such a positive influence on me. I never would have been exposed to hip hop dancing without her. We're a lot alike and yet different. She's outgoing and gregarious; we have a nice balance. We do fast beat and high energy dancing, but we enjoy attending other dance performances that include able body and wheelchair dancers alike to expose us to other forms of dancing. Some ideas we incorporate into our own dance routines."
Briana embraces an active life, which includes many of the sports she has always loved.
"I wakeboard and surf. I compete in triathlons. I skydive and bungee jump, everything I did before. I'm more motivated now to participate because I'm more curious about how I can do something. I love trying new things and challenge myself. I haven't won a triathlon," Briana says with a laugh, "but it's still a work in progress."
As an Ambassador for Life Rolls On, Briana also shares her love of sports with people who have spinal cord injuries.
"I teach them how to surf and I believe in the organization. We raise money for spinal injury research while we also motivate and create an awareness that life goes on after sustaining an injury," Briana adds, "Nothing can stop you if you believe it's possible."
For more information on Briana Walker visit www.BrianaWalker.com, www.LifeRollsOn.org, or http://youtube.com/watch?v=qo6dClyk_cQ&feature=related.
To watch Briana and Auti Angel dance, link to http://youtube.com/watch?v=D574RDGXUio.
Pictured: Wheelchair Hip Hop Dancers Auti Angel and Briana Walker
"Auti introduced me to wheelchair dancing and it's something I love to do. I'm very passionate about it. We perform together at Colours Wheelchairs trade shows. We demo the product together, provide entertainment and show what we can do in their wheelchair products. I also really like the little kids camps where we show kids with disabilities what they can do in a wheelchair," Briana explains. "That is our reward to see their faces light up and show them that anything is possible."
Briana's life changed with an accident on an Orange County, California, freeway in 2002 at the age of 23. When she fainted at the wheel of her black Honda Accord, she hit the cement median at 75 miles per hour. She had planned on marrying her boyfriend, but the accident took her life in a different direction.
"After I got hurt, it was too difficult for him to handle. It ended up being a blessing, because I need someone who won't run away from adversity, someone who will embrace challenge and say, 'Let's beat it together!' While it was heartbreaking at the time, it gave me so much motivation to move forward. We're still friends," Briana notes, "but everyone deals with situations differently and you have to accept that."
Since the accident, Briana has become an author of an uplifting book about her experiences, "Dance Anyway." She also serves as an Ambassador to the Life Rolls On Foundation as she's working on a second book.
"My first book 'Dance Anyway' is available on my website www.BrianaWalker.com. I wrote it to share my story and my message that life turns out best for those who make the best of the way life turns out. The second book 'Does this wheelchair make my butt look big?' is the book that I want people to see the humorous side of wheelchair life. I plan on releasing this book in 2009 and distributing it to the spinal cord rehabs in the USA so they can give it to the newly injured patients to help them develop a sense of humor in this new way of life. Laughter is the best medicine I believe. It definitely helped me get through some very trying times and the ability to laugh made it easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hospitals now give my book, 'Dance Anyway,' to people who have recently sustained a spinal cord injury," Briana explains. "As an Ambassador with the Life Rolls On Foundation I go into hospitals and rehabs and talk to people with spinal cord injuries. It's so important who you first meet after an injury as it will determine the path you will take. What type of example will you receive? If you meet someone negative, it may have a negative impact. Life is going to be different after an injury, but you have a choice. You can look at the positive. I try to be positive and use my sense of humor."
As a spokesperson for Overstock.com, Briana does not sit in her wheelchair to sell the products in commercial appearances.
"They gave me a choice and asked me, 'Do you want to sit in your wheelchair or on the couch?' I told them, if I were at home, I'd be sitting on the couch," Briana says, "It's not a publicity stunt or anything like that. I'm promoting Overstock.com and it shouldn't matter whether I'm in a wheelchair or not. Artists with disabilities want to be accepted as normal. In my role with Overstock.com, it's just about being a person."
As Briana has been requested around the world to share her story in person, she carries a strong message.
"I speak primarily to able-bodied communities. My platform is focused on overcoming adversity. Attitude is everything and I incorporate the lessons I've learned in my own life into that theme. Life is about choices and it's your choice how you're going to react to it."
As speaking engagement requests have been growing by word-of-mouth, she's appeared for groups as far away as Germany. Briana receives positive responses to her appearances.
In life, she rarely experiences discrimination but admits it has to do with your own individual attitude and interpretation.
"The way I look at it, if someone is uncomfortable or they stare, I see it as an opportunity first hand to educate. It's how I react to a situation that determines the outcome. There's always a way to turn it into an educational experience that leads toward acceptance. I look back to when I got hurt. I didn't know anyone who used a wheelchair," Briana remembers. "As time progressed, I could turn this experience into anything I wanted it to be. Again, it was my choice to turn it around and share my message with more people."
To be able to continue dancing has been a gift. "I'm grateful to Auti. She's had such a positive influence on me. I never would have been exposed to hip hop dancing without her. We're a lot alike and yet different. She's outgoing and gregarious; we have a nice balance. We do fast beat and high energy dancing, but we enjoy attending other dance performances that include able body and wheelchair dancers alike to expose us to other forms of dancing. Some ideas we incorporate into our own dance routines."
Briana embraces an active life, which includes many of the sports she has always loved.
"I wakeboard and surf. I compete in triathlons. I skydive and bungee jump, everything I did before. I'm more motivated now to participate because I'm more curious about how I can do something. I love trying new things and challenge myself. I haven't won a triathlon," Briana says with a laugh, "but it's still a work in progress."
As an Ambassador for Life Rolls On, Briana also shares her love of sports with people who have spinal cord injuries.
"I teach them how to surf and I believe in the organization. We raise money for spinal injury research while we also motivate and create an awareness that life goes on after sustaining an injury," Briana adds, "Nothing can stop you if you believe it's possible."
For more information on Briana Walker visit www.BrianaWalker.com, www.LifeRollsOn.org, or http://youtube.com/watch?v=qo6dClyk_cQ&feature=related.
To watch Briana and Auti Angel dance, link to http://youtube.com/watch?v=D574RDGXUio.
Pictured: Wheelchair Hip Hop Dancers Auti Angel and Briana Walker
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