SPINALpedia serves the needs of thousands of individuals and families affected by a spinal cord injury (SCI) from all over the world. We are here to empower our community through our shared SCI knowledge, voices and stories.
Too many in the SCI community struggle to find relevant information and similarly situated people to learn from. The lack of knowing what’s possible and not having someone to connect with leads to depression and feeling alone. Most are unaware of their full potential to live active post-injury lifestyles outside of the comforting walls of their home.
Learning from others that have been down a similar road creates instant connections and inspires sharing of information. Our vast database of SCI content grows as our community grows. Content on our site is uploaded by our community for our community. We believe that together we are united and that together we are stronger.
To provide an online platform where “Everything Spinal Cord” can be easily searchable by those in need and shared by those looking to give back. SPINALpedia creates an empowering atmosphere where everyone speaks spinal cord and those dominating life from a wheelchair can be heard.
Joshua Basile, in 2004 at the age of 18, suffered a severe spinal cord injury while on a family vacation in Delaware. His paralysis rendered him a C4-5 quadriplegic but it did not stop him from pursuing his goals. His positive attitude and desire to help others motivated him to form the Determined2heal Foundation, SPINALpedia.com and pursue a law degree.
In 2013, Josh graduated magna cum laude from law school, and soon after passed the Maryland and District of Columbia bars. He is currently a trial attorney at Jack H. Olender & Associates located in Washington DC, where he fights on behalf of the catastrophically injured.
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Tiffiny Carlson is a C6 quadriplegic from Minnesota. She was injured in a diving accident in 1993, 2 weeks before starting high school. Helping others with spinal cord injuries has been her passion since her accident, with her mentoring to other SCI women beginning on AOL in 1996. Tiffiny became a disability writer while in college in 1999 and went on to be the SCI Life columnist for New Mobility magazine from 2003 – 2017. She is also the founder of the longtime disability site, BeautyAbility.com.
Her work on life with a disability has been featured in dozens of publications including the Huffington Post, Playgirl and Disaboom. When she’s not writing, Tiffiny enjoys mentoring people with SCI online and offline and loves to go adaptive skiing each Winter.
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Kelley Brooks Simoneaux is an attorney and disability rights advocate based in Washington, D.C. She is the founder of The Spinal Cord Injury Law Firm, PLLC., where she represents individuals with recently sustained spinal cord injuries. Kelley has committed her professional life to helping those with spinal cord injuries after she became a T-12 paraplegic as a passenger in a car wreck when she was 16 years old. When Kelley is not in the courtroom, she is fighting for greater accessibility in rideshare companies. After being denied a ride in an Uber due to her wheelchair, she began a national campaign called Wheel2Ride, which is focused on education and policy change in accessibility and inclusivity for Transportation Network Providers (TNPs). Kelley is also on the Board of Directors for the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia, an independent living center serving people with disabilities in Northern Virginia, and Wheels of Happiness, a nonprofit which provides wheelchairs and medical supplies to underserved communities around the world. Kelley is the mom to a 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. She enjoys traveling the world with her family and uses any rare moment alone to practice adaptive yoga.
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Mackenzie Saunders is an S5 walking paraplegic from Phoenix, Arizona. She has been passionate about disability rights since 2009 when she was paralyzed from the waist down during a soccer game. As well as serving as the Director of Operations for SPINALPedia, Mackenzie works as a Legal Intern at The Spinal Cord Injury Law Firm. Mackenzie is currently finishing her senior year at Arizona State University where she studies Political Science, Economics, and Justice Studies. She will be attending Harvard Law School in fall 2022 to become a disability rights attorney, and later, a federal judge. In her free time, Mackenzie loves to play with her dog, participate in storytelling competitions, and spend time with her sisters.
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Nick Blasey joined the SPINALpedia team after his closest cousin became injured in 2010. He has immersed himself in everything spinal cord and is passionate about helping our community live meaningful active lifestyles. Nick is a competitive skier and lover of the outdoors.
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