1859 Sept | Oct 2018

adventure
“Helping people see that the
entire world is there, you just
have to approach it strategically,
that’s been very fulfilling.”
— Alysia Kezerian
so sometimes I’d have to pop a wheel off of my chair and have
someone help me through.”
The struggles she’s had traveling all seem insignificant
against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, the Swiss Alps or
the canals in Amsterdam, but they did inspire her to create
a platform for people who use wheelchairs to share their
experiences traveling. Kezerian launched Wheelies Around
the World on Instagram in July 2017 and built a following of
nearly 5,000 people.
She’s received messages from people who never thought
they’d be able to travel internationally again. “Helping people
see that the entire world is there, you just have to approach
it strategically, that’s been very fulfilling,” Kezerian said. The
page also gained a following from able-bodied people. “I didn’t
make the page with the thought of creating any sort of social
change, but it’s cool how that has sort of come along with it.”
Since her injury, Kezerian has graduated college, traveled
to thirteen countries and now works as an administrative
assistant in San Francisco. She’s also baffled doctors by taking
steps on her own.
At St. Charles in 2015, she noticed her hip flexor twitching,
but doctors told her that was normal. She didn’t get her hopes
up. “I took what they said to heart. You know that it happens
sometimes—signals get through,” Kezerian said. That twitch
was always in the back of her mind, and now she’s regained use
of about twenty muscles in her legs.
Doctors can’t tell her why she’s regained the use of some of
her muscles. “Spinal cord injuries are probably one of the most
ambiguous injuries you could possibly get,” Kezerian said.
“There’s just not enough research to give a definitive answer.”
Now that she’s taken steps on her own and even climbed
flights of stairs, she’s unsure of what her future holds.
“I feel like my head is sort of being split between two worlds
right now—the world of accepting being in a wheelchair and
learning to love it and celebrating that … but then also really
wanting to walk,” Kezerian said.
One thing she’s sure of is that there’s no end in sight for
Wheelies Around the World. “I’ll always have a part of my life
where I was in a wheelchair and I know what it’s like to be
treated differently, and I know what it’s like to try and travel in
it,” Kezerian said. “So even if I did start walking again, there’s a
huge part of me that still can really empathize with people in
that situation.”
94 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018