Disability Awareness: 3 Women Amputees to Start Following on TikTok
Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash
October is Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM) in the U.S. and Canada. It aims to acknowledge and promote the contributions and inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace.
When thinking of how we could help increase disability awareness, I came across some incredible TikTok accounts doing just that, made by members of the disability community themselves.
Here we share the stories of three amputee content creators. Each of them needed an amputation for a different reason but the common thread between their accounts is that they each offer hope and work to educate their audience.
1. jessicaemilyquinn
Jessica Quinn is an author, model, and TikToker in her late 20s from New Zealand with a massive 25M+ likes on her posts. She had her right leg amputated at age nine to remove cancer. The rare thing about her amputation is that her thigh was removed and the rest of her leg was reattached after rotating it by 180° in a procedure called rotationplasty. This was done so that her ankle could essentially act as a knee after putting on the prosthetic. This procedure is so rarely performed that, according to Jessica, hers was the first successful one done in New Zealand.
Jessica talks about how she was conscious of her different-looking leg throughout most of her teen years before she was able to accept herself. Now she raises awareness about her condition and spreads a message of body positivity. She answers questions on her TikTok account about her life with a disability. She has also given a Ted Talk on her journey to self-acceptance.
Her content is welcoming, promotes kindness, and gives a message to accept “different” – about oneself as well as others.
Recommended posts:
Follow Jessica on TikTok.
2. footlessjo
Jo Beckwith, a 30-year-old American known as footlessjo, is not only a prolific content creator on TikTok but is also a successful YouTuber. She describes herself as an advocate, writer, and public speaker “who passionately believes in the incredibly perseverant capacity of the human soul.”
Jo fell off her horse at age 13 and had numerous surgeries to repair her damaged ankle but had limited success. Eventually, after years of surgeries and pain, she went through an elective below-the-knee amputation in 2018. She has chronicled her journey throughout the amputation process and now posts about everything from her day-to-day life to humorous takes on her disability.
Recommended posts:
Follow Jo on TikTok.
3. alyssatheamputee
Alyssa is a 25-year-old realtor, para-dressage rider, and blogger from the U.S. She was born without her right leg, a condition called paraxial tibial hemimelia. She also has a condition called ectrodactyly – which results in her only having four fingers on each hand.
Alyssa chronicles the challenges of being an amputee and having multiple disabilities such as finding the right prosthetic, dating, adulting, and more. Her zest for life drew me to her account. She is dancing in most of her posts. She replies to hateful comments with a light touch and advocates for an inclusive world.
Recommended posts:
Follow Alyssa on TikTok.
P.S. Ever wonder how we come up with ideas for our blog profiles? Our handy list of industries and subjects on PR Newswire for Journalists stays top of mind. If you’re a blogger or journalist looking for disability news, let us know. We can customize a newsfeed for you.
Mehak Aggarwal is a Content Editor at Cision. In her free time, she can be found hiking, reading, and weaving tales on her personal blog.
