11 April 2008
Angela Rockwood-Nguyen: Helping Others Go Forward
By Chandley McDonald
Chandley McDonald is a writer for the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of International Information Programs.
In 2001, just two months before her wedding to Dustin Nguyen, Angela Rockwood, then an aspiring model and actress, suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident. She remembers waking up in the hospital thinking that this was the end of the world. In a real sense, her world as she knew it, was changed forever. "Changed," she says, "from being a fitness enthusiast and an aspiring actress, I had been transported into the realm of the paralyzed: a C4-5 quadriplegic." (C4-5 indicates the location of her injury; in this case, her neck.)
At the time, Angela quickly assessed her situation and knew that even though she could be disabled all her life, she was ready to accept it and go forward.
"Go Forward" is the motto of the foundation established by former movie star Christopher Reeve, whose film roles included Superman. Reeve was paralyzed in a horseback riding accident in 1995. He and his wife Dana lent their names to the American Paralysis Association shortly after his accident. The organization ultimately became known as the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center (PRC).
Following Rockwood-Nguyen's accident, she received an enormous amount of support and assistance from Reeve's foundation. Even today, she says, the foundation is there to provide her with information and resources that she needs to live a healthy and productive life.
Rockwood-Nguyen and her husband, Dustin, an Asian-American actor, are spokespeople for the Paralysis Resource Center's Minority Outreach Campaign. They are encouraging others to "Go Forward," just as the Reeves envisioned.
"Shortly after my accident, in the midst of therapy, I learned of the PRC and can vouch for the level of support they were able to provide—that there are people who can get you the information you need in desperate and confusing times. There are so many paras and quads [paraplegic and quadriplegic people] who can use the help—especially in the Asian-American community—and I plan to do everything I can to get them to do so," Rockwood-Nguyen says.
And there is hope for the future for paralysis patients. The Paralysis Resource Center reports, "Today, our belief in a cure is shared by the neuroscientists, researchers, clinicians, and, perhaps most importantly, thousands of people living with spinal cord injuries and their families."
