Push Girls – Overcoming Adversity and Inspiring Others
Posted August 2, 2012 at 7:00 pm
By Brie Kishel, ContributorAn inspirational series has premiered this summer on the Sundance channel. It portrays the story of five young women, each of whose lives has been forever changed in different ways. But the one thing that they all have in common is that they have learned to use a wheelchair to get themselves around.
Two of the women, Tiphany “The Blonde Bombshell” and Chelsie “The Dancer,” were involved in separate drunk driving incidents where they became the victims of another heavily intoxicated individual making the careless decision to get behind the wheel of a vehicle. Two others, Auti “The Rock Star” and Angela “The Model” were also victims of tragic automobile accidents (not alcohol-related). The fifth girl, Mia “The Athlete,” had an Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) rupture in her spinal cord. All five girls are now paralyzed from the waist down; Angela also has decreased flexibility in her arms as well as difficulty moving her fingers.
A Push Girl is a “fierce, fearless woman who doesn’t let life’s challenges get in the way of what she wants.” It is also defined as “anyone who overcomes adversity with a never-say-die attitude and sense of humor.” Push Girls website: http://www.sundancechannel.com/push-girls/
So to clarify, a push girl is not necessarily a female who uses a wheelchair, but anyone who is capable of finding the strength within them to get back up when life has knocked them down.
The girls in the series were not always role model material in the past. Tiphany admits that during her youth, she was known by her peers and family for her extreme rebelliousness and she experimented frequently with alcohol, drugs and heavy partying. Tiphany was forced to revisit this ghost of her former self when she attended her 10-year high school reunion in a recent episode. After her accident, she eventually realized that she had been given a second chance at life and decided to clean herself up and embrace her accident as something that may actually have saved her life. The show, while doing an exemplary job portraying the positive personalities of the young women, is not intended for children. There are many references to sex, drugs and alcohol that parents should be aware of, which is most likely the reason for the 10:00 p.m. time slot!
But the creators of this show didn’t spend a lot of time focusing on the negative. Instead, they highlight the successes and achievements these young women have accomplished in their lives despite their disability. Pursuing their dreams of dancing (yes dancing!), painting, singing, modeling, swimming, establishing careers, dating and living independently. The most important theme of the show is that the girls do not waste precious moments of their lives feeling sorry for themselves, instead they rise to the opportunities that are presented and encourage each other to “go big or go home.” It just so happens that while they are inspiring each other they are also inspiring everyone watching this show to want to become a “push girl” too!
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Sue Muscarella
Posted August 2, 2012 at 12:00 am