After a tragic car crash left Danielle DeAngelis paralyzed, she spent many depressing days contemplating what she was going to do with the rest of her life with such limitations. Suddenly, she had an answer.

Now that she has been crowned Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania, her calendar is filling up with speaking engagements and personal appearances.

“I’m both honored and overwhelmed by winning the title,” said DeAngelis, who was awarded first place when her closest competitor had to leave the site in Erie because of a family emergency. “I still had to complete my presentations before the judges, which I’m happy about. It was a good experience to prepare me for the nationals.”

DeAngelis will use her same platform at the Ms. Wheelchair America event in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the first week of July.

“I want to improve accessibility for the disabled, especially in the town of Jim Thorpe,” she said. “We need wider handicap parking spaces so that there is more room to maneuver wheelchairs. I’d also like to see portable ramps for chairs at the entrances of many of the retail businesses and restaurants.”

DeAngelis will emphasize the point of her platform that larger cities are better equipped for easier mobility for those in wheelchairs, but overall, small towns do not have the same advantages for the disabled.

“I’m planning to meet with Carbon County Rep. Doyle Heffley to discuss the possibility of applying for state-funded grants that could pay for the improvements.”

During her three-session interview, DeAngelis was asked what she would do if she won the lottery.

“I’d buy myself a new wheelchair,” she said, “but then I’d have a new house built for my parents.”

After examining her portfolio, one of the judges had asked DeAngelis if she would consider going back to school to be a special-education teacher, which she had begun before the accident.

“I certainly would. Disabilities are physical and mental. I know I could relate to these kids, and I’d want to be a role model for them.”

Speaking of role models, she names Jim Thorpe as a man she greatly admired for making such a big impact on people that he had a town named after him.

As this 27-year-old prepares her platform to compete against 40 women at the nationals, DeAngelis continues to mark her calendar dates for her appearances since she was crowned.

“I have everything to attend from a Disability Job Fair, to a Lunch and Learn in Jonestown, and I’ll also be guest speaker at a Physical Assistant class in April at the Penn College of Technology.”

If elected as Ms. Wheelchair America 2020, DeAngelis will be the second woman from the state to wear the crown in the past seven years, with Josie Badger from Pittsburgh winning in 2012. The titleholder spends an entire year making public appearances on TV and radio as well as attending numerous disability advocacy sites across the country.

In addition to preparing her platform for Little Rock, since the wheelchair competitions are conducted by nonprofit organizations, DeAngelis will fundraise to help pay expenses for her trip.

More information will be coming soon to her, so she’ll have a better idea of what to expect on the big stage.

She’s focused on goals for improving accessibility for the disabled even though with plenty of time to prepare for her big week in July, she will be very busy in the upcoming months.

“I’m representing our entire state,” she said,” and I have found that my life now holds a purpose.”

Since her accident, DeAngelis has fought long and hard to see meaning in her life. No matter what happens at the national competition, she’s guaranteed to come home a winner.