Life is constantly throwing obstacles in your way, and it’s how you respond to them will determine what you get out of this journey we call human existence.

Dana Mathewson was an active kid like many in southern California who played sports and made childhood memories. That all changed when she lost feeling in her legs, and became a wheelchair user at the age of 10. After this life-altering experience, she was a young person trying to understand the how to navigate this new and difficult road in life.

That’s when sports re-entered the picture, and changed Mathewson’s trajectory forever. She became an accomplished wheelchair tennis player, a pioneer for American women in her field, and perhaps more importantly, a vessel for change in how society looks at disabled individuals.

She joined the Tennis Channel Inside-In Podcast to share her story, profess her message, and explain why everyone deserves to feel like a normal person.

Mathewson is remarkably positive given what transpired in her youth, and she is quick to credit her mom for removing any limitations she might have placed on herself. There was no time for pity in their household, and life was still very much worth living. Mathewson found sports through the (somewhat) gentle urging of her mother, but quickly realized the value that competitive athletics could provide.

“After something happens to you where you independence suddenly disappears, finding sports again, at least for me, gave me that back,” she explained. “Playing sports again and seeing oh wow I can move really fast on the court, I can be really strong, I can be part of a team, I can be really good at something athletic, was really eye-opening for me. And that definitely changed my outlook on not just life, but what disability is.”

a Mathewson admits that she had the same common misconceptions about disabled people before her injury, and she wants to help spread the message that just because you’re disabled, doesn’t mean you can’t live a normal, fully functional life.