"Empowering Women Supporting Their Partners In Chairs"
When we began a small support group to reach out to Wives And Girlfriends who have partners with spinal cord injuries, we had no idea that the group would expand to reach all corners of the globe.
Both of us have partners who are quadriplegics and began our "new normal" lives after our partner's injuries - all alone. We felt that although we had support in our family and friends, no one truly understood what we were going through with our partners. After a devastating life-changing injury, isolation can creep in - and we couldn't find much support in our community.
A few years after our partner's injuries, we met by chance over Instagram. We soon realized we lived just blocks away from one another in Vancouver, BC, Canada. We started meeting for coffees and yoga and bonded over our similar lifestyle of being caregivers AND lovers to our injured partners. We knew our connection was life-changing and vowed to offer support to other women in our shoes by creating an Instagram page in 2017.
The group has since expanded to have 11 WAGS Ambassadors - women from different parts of the world who are the main points of contact for WAGS of SCI in their cities. The group also has a new website, private Facebook discussion group and page, and we also recently partnered with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation to create and moderate their own WAGS of SCI Discussion Forum on their Reeve Connect platform.
The future goals for the group are to become an official foundation, functioning to help other WAGS of SCI and couples go on accessible trips away and enjoy date nights/self-care without a financial or organizational burden. The WAGS of SCI believe in LOVE - love that conquers all, and will not stop raising awareness and breaking down barriers in the disabled community.
