By Michaela Galligan
Schuyler Arakawa, a FishHawk local, has recently been named Ms. Wheelchair Florida 2025, and her inspirational story and mission continue to motivate and touch people every day.
In 2016, shortly after her graduation from Yale University, Arakawa fell victim to a terrible accident. While on a fellowship to South America, a falling boulder struck Arakawa, leaving her with traumatic injuries that would forever change her life. As an active student, speaker and individual, she found herself in a very different life, waking up in the ICU without the ability to speak and with limited physical movement.
“I felt like I was living life on pause and that things could go back to normal, but it was moving slowly,” said Arakawa. “Now I’m working on finding my new purpose in life.”
With the encouragement of a therapist, Arakawa found the platform of Ms. Wheelchair America.
At her first competition, she could hardly speak, and no one with a speech impediment had ever placed before. During this time, she realized the necessity of access for silent disabilities and used this platform to share the struggle that so many share.
“When you can’t communicate, you get trapped within yourself,” said Arakawa. “That’s why I founded ROAR.”
Raise Awareness, Open Doors, Amplify Voices and Redefine Accessibility, or ROAR, is Arakawa’s mission for those with silent disabilities, providing accessibility for all disabilities, not just physical ones. Her work has elevated technology for those in need of assistance, such as AI communication and captioning devices.
Of course, none of this can be done alone, and Arakawa is lucky to be one half of a powerful dynamic duo with her mom, Meridith Alexander. The day of the accident, Alexander’s life changed forever as well. Alexander stepped away from her career to care for Arakawa but has found her own purpose and mindset from this event.
“The mental healing is the most important part,” said Alexander. “But through this, we have learned to turn tragedy into triumph and understand that maybe this wasn’t happening to us but for us.”
The strength and bond that Arakawa and Alexander share have allowed them to accomplish great things together, and Ms. Wheelchair Florida is just the beginning. Arakawa will be representing Florida at the Ms. Wheelchair America competition in Michigan later this summer.
Arakawa’s attendance at the competition is reliant on donations from her local community. For more information about events and sponsorship, please contact Alexander at meridith@meridithalexander.com.
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