Diana Pelletier remembers nothing of her horrific car accident. She recalls waking up in an ICU room under the hallucinogenic impression that teenagers were attempting to take her life. She had been driving to a youth event in central Pennsylvania when she hit a median, overcorrected and rolled her car three times. Her then-husband, Mark, and children―Hannah, just shy of 2, and Cole, born three weeks earlier―were spared serious injuries. Diana’s spinal cord wasn’t severed, but the crash damaged two vertebrae in her neck, paralyzing her from the neck down.
Pelletier’s car rolled over three times, seriously injuring her but sparing the rest of the family.
Due to the trauma, she couldn’t begin to grasp the severity of her condition until a month later. She found herself lost and angry at God. In her room at an inpatient physical therapy program, she believes she had a Spirit moment as she questioned the why of her situation:
“Why God?” she remembers wondering. “Why would you let this happen? I have these babies. I am in the prime of my life. Why would this happen?” But eventually the questions shifted from why to how: “How do I still be a mom? How do I still be a wife? How do I still be a diaconal minister? How do I still serve?”
Now, 14 years after the accident, she relies on a mantra introduced to her by her parents: “It is what it is, but it will become what you make it.”
Pelletier set out on a journey to find her new self. Since moving to a suburb of Reading, Pa., three years ago, she has begun to thrive in this rediscovery process. Now she is around people who know her for who she is, not the person she was before the accident or in her post-accident struggles.
“I long to be someone who, when you meet me, you know that you’re loved, you know that anything is possible, you know that it’s OK to have bad days,” she said. “At my core, I’m a child of God that just wants everyone else to know that they, too, are children of God who have the potential to do and be anything, everything. I want my children to know that there is no obstacle too great.”
As a mom, she faces serious challenges, but with them have come unique blessings. Her family has come to help in ways they may not have before, and she has had memorable experiences with her children, visiting Disney World and riding hot-air balloons. The family looks forward to a cruise to Iceland. Her physical limitations have not stopped her.
She realized that, while some people see her as a person in a wheelchair, this is her chance to make a difference.
Pelletier has begun walking again, thanks to her exoskeleton “Eddie.”
“I have a unique opportunity to talk to other people about otherness and to invite them to know somebody who navigates the world differently,” Pelletier said. “I have that opportunity in ministry to help open people’s eyes to a world they never had to think of before. And I am uniquely qualified for that because I’ve been on both sides. I spent the first 30 years of my life walking around the world, and now I’m in a chair.”
Recently, Pelletier returned to walking. She first walked with Eddie―her nickname for her exoskeletal robot―in March. “It was amazing, and it was scary. The first day, I walked 343 steps, and all of them were tense. I really felt, like for the first time, that I was walking.”
Weighing 55 pounds, the unit allows Pelletier’s steps to become rhythmic. This is a stark contrast to the irregular style of walking she has experienced with past therapeutic devices. Eddie trains her muscles correctly. The more she uses the robot, the longer her walks become. Today, she relies less on the device than when she first started. Her personal goal is to walk independently again in her lifetime. But she has never stopped thinking of how to serve.
Through separate conversations, Pelletier’s sister and physical therapist inspired her to walk a mile―5,280 steps―to raise money for others to utilize exoskeletal robots. On June 12, she met this goal inside the hallways of the hospital where she regularly walks. Members of her church hung handmade signs along the walls, and hospital employees cheered her on throughout the effort. At times, friends and family joined her in sets of two. The support of everyone overwhelmed her as she crossed the finish line.
“It was just amazing to have all these people cheering me on,” Pelletier said. So far, her efforts have raised $12,280.
Pelletier is focused on what comes next. She wants to make an impact for God in all areas of her life. Asked what advice she might offer to her past self, the person who lay motionless in the ICU, she replied, “Not to think of the limits but to think of the possibilities.” As her own experience has proved, a possibility is only a series of steps.
