KARNESHIA PATTON: Spina Bifida…
KARNESHIA PATTON: ..doesn’t stop me from doing anything. You just adapt to life in whatever situation.
KARNESHIA PATTON: My relationship with my wheelchair can probably best be described as
my best friend and my worst enemy.
KARNESHIA PATTON: I have been in a wheelchair since I was 3 years old.
COMM: Karneshia was born with a rare birth defect known as Spina Bifida.
KARNESHIA PATTON: Spina Bifida is a congenital birth defect where there is a hole in your spinal cord and mine
was located in the L5 region. So they closed it back up and I am paralysed from the waist down.
There is nothing that I can do to strengthen my legs because I have no function or feeling in my legs.
COMM: Growing up, Karneshia tried not to let her condition hold her back even in the face of
school bullies and discrimination.
KARNESHIA PATTON: There were times growing up when I did resent my wheelchair before I actually came
to terms with my disability and accepted who I was. Kids were kind of, cruel.
I would say that I was bullied in middle school, maybe 5th, 6th grade.
KARNESHIA PATTON: I started playing basketball in high school with the junior league. I always wanted to play,
I tried to try out for the tennis team a couple of times and I did feel excluded where the coach felt like I was a
hazard to the team or that I didn’t fit in somehow.
COMM: Karneshia now plays for the Lakeshore Foundation’s Wheelchair Basketball Team.
KARNESHIA PATTON: I have been training with this team for 4 years now.
REDELL KING: I met Karneshia at a basketball tournament. I played for the Memphis Rollin’ Grizzlies
and she played for Lakeshore. And during the game, I knocked her out of her chair because wheelchair
basketball is a physical sport. So, I didn’t try to do it intentionally but it just happened.
And after the game she came up to me, we had a conversation and we have been talking ever since then.
REDELL KING: I was 15 when I was involved in a gunshot accident. The gunshot injury that occurred left me
completely paralysed from the chest on down. So I have been paralysed for approximately 11 years now.
KARNESHIA PATTON: I would say that as far as the diversity inclusiveness goes in the disabled community,
people are getting better at recognising us, knowing that we are here. They see that we are not just at home, not
just trying to stay away from the outside world. There are more of us that are getting out there,
telling our stories and they have to acknowledge that.
REDELL KING: We both have been through a lot with our disabilities and life in general, and just having someone
there for you through those moments to express those feelings is
probably one of the best feelings you will ever have.
KARNESHIA PATTON: Sometimes I do get frustrated with thinking about day to day tasks and what routes I
might have to take to get there. Maybe, how long it might take me to get ready. Going to a building that may not be
accessible is very frustrating because you have to plan your day accordingly and it really shouldn’t be like that.
KARNESHIA PATTON: I just changed the way I think about it. When I get discouraged or disheartened, I just,
I deal with the now and if I can’t change what happened, just move on from it.
KARNESHIA PATTON: The car has hand controls. So I can drive with my hands and not my feet pedals.
It pushes down for brake and I am pulling it back for gas.
KARNESHIA PATTON: And we are headed to the nail salon now.
KARNESHIA PATTON: Right now, working, I am a nail technician and I am studying for my MBA and
my concentration is marketing.
COMM: More recently, Karneshia has found herself the one receiving the beauty treatments,
taking to the catwalk as a model.
KARNESHIA PATTON: I got into modelling about 2-3 years ago when I was asked to do a photoshoot.
The first time I walked down the catwalk, I was very, very nervous. My hands were sweaty, shaking but once I saw
the love I was getting and the smile on people’s faces, I fell in love with it.
KARNESHIA PATTON: I would absolutely love to do more modelling in the future. I hope to make this an on-going
career where you can evolve into something bigger than I even imagine. Spina Bifida makes it a little difficult but I
look at it as if you are not scared to take a risk. If you have an open mind, it shouldn’t be that hard.
KARNESHIA PATTON: Representation matters to everyone. When you can look on a screen or a photo and
see somebody that you can relate to, that could encourage someone to go out and pursue their dreams.
I don’t think Spina Bifida really affects me at all. If I just try to live every day to the best of my ability.