Journey of a Brave Woman

I was born in Ica, Peru. I’m the oldest child of 6. I always remember spending every summer at the beach with my grandparents, siblings, and cousins. We always stayed for a month to spend family time together and see our friends. My childhood friends are a very important part of my life and I will always cherish the moments I shared with them. When we meet, we always remember what we did when we were younger and its always a great fun moment filled with laughter and joy. I would say to anyone to make the best memories with your friends and family, someday you will look back and realize that your life wasn’t as bad as you thought because you were surrounded by love and support.

A year after moving to Dallas I was involved in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down. I also lost my left leg and my boyfriend passed away due to a drunk driver. At the age of twenty, I endured the most excruciating pain any young girl can endure.

“When I found out I lost my boyfriend I was heartbroken. It was more painful than losing a limb or the ability to walk again.“

I questioned many times, ‘Why me? Why him?’ I wanted to be dead too. When I was told that I would be paralyzed for the rest of my life and lost my limb I was devastated. I cried and thought, what I’m a going to do now? I won’t ever walk again. I won’t be able to do anything. I felt ugly for not having a limb but something in my heart was telling me, you’ll be okay. It’s going to be okay. My goal was to take back my life back; to do as much as I could do as a physically challenged woman and get my independence back.

I started driving a car with hand-controls, I went to college, and move independently around the city. Two years after my accident, I got married to a very nice man and we had our girl, Mikaela. My daughter is now 14 years old. While I am no longer married, my ex and I have a really good relationship and try our best to raise our daughter the best we can. Life as a disabled woman could be so difficult at times but fighting every day to live my life to the fullest is totally worth it.

In 2014, I was selected as one of the first American ambassadors for ReWalk Robotics. ReWalk is an exoskeleton device that helps people with spinal cord injuries to stand, seat, take steps, and climb stairs. I became the poster girl for the company until now. I remember the first time I stood up in the device, it was amazing, I was so happy! I was told I would never ever walk again but there I was taking steps with the help of this device! ReWalk changed my life for the better. It gave me a new perspective on life.

As an influencer I work with different brands to promote their products. I have to be a trendsetter, gain the trust of my followers, and bring valuable content in my social media platforms. My goal as an influencer is to stay as transparent as possible and share my story with those who follow and trust me. I really want to use my influence to help others. I have been an influencer for three years. In 2017 I created The Journey of a Brave Woman to show others the way I live my life with a disability.

I wanted to show that on my social media account— your abilities don’t matter. You’ll be rewarded when you are brave enough to live your life, do what you want, and take risks. I’m not a brave woman because I have a disability; rather, with or without my disability, I am not afraid to take risks. To take risks you have to be brave, you have to have courage. People reach out to tell their stories. Some are amputees like me, some have spinal cord injuries. They always say things like, “Oh, I didn’t know I could do that in my wheelchair,’ or ‘Oh, you’ve really inspired me, I wasn’t confident enough to wear skirts or dresses and I didn’t know I could look so pretty in a chair,’ or ‘I didn’t know that I could travel alone in my chair.’ They tell me I’m really helping open their minds to possibilities, inspiring them to be independent, beautiful, and take risks.

I have traveled to 16 countries since 2017 and have loved learning different cultures and customs. If I had to choose a favorite country, I would say Israel; I spent almost a month in that country and adapted well to the culture and lifestyle. I made tons of connections and friends, but the most memorable trip is when I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro on February 09, 2020. I became the first Latina woman with a disability to climb one of the tallest mountains of the world. After my accident, I had never climbed up a mountain as big as Mt. Kilimanjaro or any big mountain ever. I had never spent a day camping in one either. After my accident, I pretty much gave up climbing mountains, being in nature, and the wilderness cause my wheelchair is not made for that. I had to be assisted by others to make it to the summit.

My car accident took many things away from me like my independence and my ability to enjoy nature by on my own. It took away my ability to walk; I can no longer hike mountains or run. Like me, there are millions of people living with Spinal Cord Injuries who wish to do things by themselves and do not depend on others to do simple things like spend time in nature. We are a brilliant, resilient community who try their best to live their best lives. This is why I advocate for inclusivity and accessibility in everything. There are millions of people like me whose dreams are bigger than Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The reality is if the world isn’t inclusive and accessible our dreams will take too long to reach. I don’t know if there is a bigger mountain than Mt. Kilimanjaro for me to hike. All I know is that I climb the mountains of life every day and I have never given up.

RAISING AWARENESS

Disability advocates are an incredibly diverse group, and the way these people advocate is equally diverse. Social disability advocates are people who work toward furthering disability rights through social change and public policy. An accessibility advocate is someone who advocates for a disability-related cause such as the lack of access for people in wheelchairs in public places. I bring awareness of the different issues people with disabilities have to endure or go through to get to a place due to lack of wheelchair access. Traveling all over the world in a wheelchair is not easy! You’re going to face obstacles often because you’re physically challenged. You’ll travel to some places that aren’t accessible. I couldn’t have done all this travel if I didn’t have the help of kind people. Wherever I go, if something isn’t accessible for wheelchair users, that’s a big obstacle and a really big issue for anyone who travels in a wheelchair. If I didn’t have good people helping me, I wouldn’t be able to go into certain buildings or see certain sights. I’ll have obstacles regardless, but I always rely on kind people to help me.

Many do not know how to travel the world alone or are scared to be in uncomfortable situations where wheelchair access is not available for them. My job is to bring awareness in my social media platforms and educate people especially those who own a business or manage public places to make it more wheelchair friendly. When I travel the world and find myself in a place that is not accommodating for disabled people or lacks wheelchair access, I make sure to speak up. I strongly point out why wheelchair access must be taken into consideration in every business or public place. People with disabilities are also customers, business owners, and live their life like everyone else’s. We deserve to be treated equally in public places.

I know the hardships and inequalities disabled people who travel face firsthand. Overcoming those obstacles has led me to lead the charge in creating an accessible world by spotlighting accessible travel the issues the disabled face. More importantly, I made it my mission to fund ramps to create more accessibility in countries and areas that lack adequate wheelchair access. When people shop at The Brave Woman Apparel & Co, you are making a direct impact on my quest. You are aiding in creating an accessible world for all. What I like about my e-commerce business is that I have created a brand with intention. A brand that gives back to the less fortunate and making the world a little more accessible for wheelchair users. Thanks to the support of the people who believe in my brand, I was able to travel to Bangalore, India to host an event for 20 disabled children with different disabilities. I wanted to give them the experience of what is like to be in a restaurant that is fully wheelchair accessible. I just wanted these children to forget about their struggles for one day and bring them joy.

My brand also donated ramps for a tennis complex in Bangalore, India for a team of Adaptive tennis athletes. These children had to be assisted to get to the tennis court every time they had practice. Now, they can get in and out without needing help from their families. New ramps meant less struggling and more time to focus on playing sports.

“I wanted to do something to help these children to forget their struggles, even for just one day..“

As a disabled person I know that living with a disability can be challenging at times or even ruin you financially. Healthcare costs can be very high and leave many people with disabilities without the proper care they need. When the pandemic started in March 2020, there were children with disabilities and their families who were left with no money to buy food. I decided to fundraise and donate 100% of my merchandise sales to help these children living in poor conditions in undeveloped countries. Through my brand, and with the help of my friends, we delivered 100 baskets of food during the Holidays in Peru, India, Venezuela, and Tanzania. I donated a wheelchair for a 10-year-old little girl with cerebral palsy who needed a chair to go to school and buy her health insurance for the year.

I really love sharing what the Brave Woman Shop brand was able to accomplish in a year and I’m grateful to every person who supported my cause. It takes a village to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate.

It takes a village to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate..

“I found happiness through simply being alive, and through family and friends. True happiness resides within me.“

I would like the public to know that people with disabilities are people first. We need the same things that everybody needs; such as respect. Most say they would rather die than live with a disability; I find that very funny. I thought I would never be happy again after my car accident. But a few years after becoming paralyzed, I was happy. I found happiness through simply being alive, and through family and friends. I still wish I could walk again, but true happiness resides within me. When you hear about people becoming disabled through an accident you always think it could never happen to you. The cold-hard truth is that because accidents happen every day, becoming disabled can happen to you or someone you know. This possibility is the reality of living, but when you have a disability, you’re just a bit more aware of it.

Also, you can’t judge a person by their looks. Don’t think that a disability is equitable to someone who is not impressive or successful. You never know of what someone with a disability is capable. People really need to learn about disabilities. If you have a disability, or you have a friend who is disabled, or you’re in the healthcare field, you probably already have knowledge and can educate others. But people just don’t know about disabilities.

Some people try to be nice, but they don’t know how to be nice — they use vocabulary that’s offensive to a disabled person. For example, when someone says, ‘You’re too pretty to be in a wheelchair’ or ‘You don’t look like you have paralyzed arms.’ They’re trying to be nice, but they don’t know how to interact with people with disabilities. This is why education is so important in schools — if we teach children in schools that we’re all the same but have different needs, we wouldn’t have ableism and accessibility wouldn’t be as much of a problem. There are a lot of disabled children who are going to need accessible options to fully live life. Of course, there will be mean people and bullies, but we could do a lot of good by not being ignorant to the needs of others.

When I was a child I admired compassionate women such as Mother Teresa and Princess Diana for being awe-inspiring humanitarians. I really admire women who use their popularity to humbly help others. Honestly, being a woman who can inspire others to be better in every aspect of their lives deserves to be admired.

Any woman can influence another woman to be strong, independent, and to make the right life and business decisions. We are everywhere. When I meet a successful woman, I am inspired to be like her or even more than her. I put into practice everything she has done during her life to be successful. I believe in the female power and how much good they can do for younger generations of women. I believe that self-love and self-care give you a lot of confidence. When you have confidence in who you are and what you do, everything is possible. I would say enjoy each day as if it were your last. We all try to do this in our own way, but many of us fail. Women with disabilities, however, have gotten it down to an art form; from enjoying the sun rays to a warm cup of coffee. We know how hard life can be, so we know how to embrace the good things when they present themselves.

“Any woman can influence another woman to be strong, independent, and to make the right life and business decisions. We are everywhere.“

My life is not perfect! I have my ups and downs and I have my bad days where I feel unmotivated and like I need to breathe a bit. But I also have my good days, where I’m happy and I want to keep ‘going-going-going’ and do all my projects. But I learned a long time ago that the only way to move forward is to accept the way you are. You need to accept what’s happened to you. Once you accept that, your brain says, ‘This is me, this is who I am.’ You can’t go back and change the past, but now you have the present and the future. When you finally accept, you can adapt to your circumstances. I live my life with what I can. I love the quote, ‘Do the best you can with what you have.’ And then you just overcome it!

Life is not always easy, but you can overcome anything. My advice is pretty simple: keep moving forward; even if you think you cannot keep moving forward, you’ll see that in the end it is worth the try.

Marcela Marañon is a wheelchair accessibility advocate and solo traveler and fashion influencer. She is on a mission to empower those who follow her journey especially those women with disabilities to push forward.

Follow Marcela on Instagram @thejourneyofabravewoman and @thebravewomanshop