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Mind & Body
What I wish I could tell my 6-year-old self about living with a disability
Kristen Parisi was in a car accident when she was 5 years old. She was paralyzed from the waist down.
May 18, 2018, 7:59 PM UTC / Source: TODAY
By Kristen Parisi
When I was in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down two days after Christmas, and right before my sixth birthday, I couldn’t imagine the life I had in front of me. When you’re 6 you want to think and worry about 6-year-old things — swim lessons, hanging on the monkey bars and spending time with friends.
But as a 6-year-old with a new injury, and in the hospital ward that was adults-only, my focus was on which medications to take and when, physical therapy and internal injuries that would never heal.