Schuyler Arakawa: Back on Two Feet
Photo: Megan Hoffer Photography
2024 Update on Schuyler’s Progress
Schuyler has been making incredible and consistent progress over the last eight years! With help from the trust assets raised three years ago, we have been able to schedule regular, quarterly visits for Schuyler to attend and stay near NextStep Orlando. With each two-day visit to this wonderful organization, Schuyler engages with NextStep’s trainers, physical therapists, and community - she not only works on standing and walking, but she also has a blast while doing it!
We have been researching annual summer camps for Schuyler to attend, with help from the trust. Beginning with the Rollettes Experience this summer in Los Angeles, we hope the trust can provide Schuyler wonderful rejuvenating and social experiences as she expands her global community in this journey of recovery.
Over the long term, we hope to cover additional costs as the trust principal grows. Some ideas include contributions toward a closet renovation for independent access, a personal eksoskeleton for Schuyler’s use at home, or a vehicle with a lift for a motorized chair. We hope to continue to report these positive developments along Schuyler’s journey to get back on 2 feet!
How Can I Help?
We appreciate any and all continuing contributions toward Schuyler’s recovery! Any funds gifted to the trust today are balanced between spending for Schuyler’s immediate use and investing for Schuyler’s long-term needs. Your gift can both help us schedule an extra NextStep session for her next year and grow to help pay for advanced medical and therapeutic equipment. Thank you!
Please note that Schuyler and her special needs trust are not 501(c)(3) organizations, so we cannot accept any gifts from family foundations. We also note that all gifts to the trust are subject to the gift tax and are not eligible for the annual exclusion. If you would like to fund Schuyler's physical therapy more directly, NextStep is able to take tax deductible donations toward Schuyler’s future appointments. By writing out a check to NextStep Fitness, Inc., 277 Douglas Avenue #1006, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714 with Schuyler’s name in the memo line or donating here with Schuyler’s name in the comments section, you can dedicate your full gift toward immediate impact this year!
We appreciate any amount you are able to give. If you have any questions, please feel free to email the trustees at: schuylerbackon2feet@gmail.com.
2021 Campaign Background
Five years ago, Schuyler was travelling the world. She had moved to Peru after college with the dream of creating jobs for women, and she had made plans to visit neighboring countries to better understand their regions, cultures and needs. On her trip to Colombia, she explored, venturing from Bogota to the islands, and, on February 19, 2016, her trip was abruptly ended after a boulder dislodged from the side of a grotto and sent Schuyler plunging into the water below.
Five years ago, you stepped up. Schuyler was in a coma, and needed five brain surgeries before the doctors believed she would make it. Her family needed emergency funds for her care, and you delivered. Those early gifts were what enabled Schuyler to start a new journey, one of recovery.
Photo: Cedric Angeles
Schuyler has come so far on that journey. She woke up from her coma and immediately got to work, scheduling physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy back to back to back. She trained herself to be able to stand up and sit down safely. She can do a plank that will outlast most 28 year olds, and she regained her voice, using it to speak up for those in wheelchairs through the Ms. Florida Wheelchair Pageant and to train trauma doctors at Tampa General Hospital.
And she’s not done yet.
Now, Schuyler is building up the strength to walk on her own, looking for jobs and planning out how she can continue her progress for the next five years. And she needs our help.
Schuyler will face challenges and have opportunities that we can’t anticipate, so we put together a “Special Needs Trust” (SNT) to support her over the long term. This rainy day fund is invested in a low-fee, diversified portfolio to ensure that Schuyler can take advantage of any new treatments and handle any emergencies that arise now, five years in the future, and beyond. Anything you are able to give will be used to support Schuyler over the long term so that she can show the world what a miraculous recovery really looks like.
We hope you will join us by making a gift today.
Please note, Schuyler and her special needs trust are not 501(c)(3)s and are not exempt from taxation, so we cannot accept any gifts from family foundations. We appreciate any amount you are able to give personally. If you have any questions, please feel free to email the campaign at: schuylerbackon2feet@gmail.com.
Video: Matthew Leonard
Our Goals
Support Schuyler’s medical development as she works to get back on her feet
Protect Schuyler’s quality of life in the event of an emergency
Celebrate how far she has come in the last five years and give her the means to sustain that progress over the long term.
Photo: Brontë Wittpen
Photo: Cedric Angeles
Letter from Schuyler
Hi guys! Thanks for all the support. The GoFundMe from last time helped pay for everything from medical expenses to caregivers. I’ve made so much progress. I’ve gone from not being able to see or speak (my eyes were taped closed and my mouth was wired shut) to being able to transfer and stand basically on my own. I never thought such basic things like walking, talking and feeding myself would be such big feats. I work on an eksoskeleton twice a week (shoutout to Kate Ford for setting me up at Burke after her wedding where we kicked off the exercise.) The eksoskeleton is essentially a robot suit that allows me to walk while reporting the amount of support it provides for my balance. Physical therapy is normally once a week. In normal physical therapy I practice walking, sit-to-stands, transfers, and then sitting on a yoga ball. I do a free physical therapy bootcamp at Nova Southeastern and compete in the Miss Florida Wheelchair every year.
My goal is to walk again which I think I’m on the way to accomplishing. Before the accident I had traveled to 5 out of 7 continents and had been to countries like Nepal, Tanzania, Croatia, and Greece. Traveling has been pretty hard now because airplane aisles are too narrow to fit a wheelchair! All through college I loved to travel and immerse myself in a new community and culture to help people. (I had danced for 13 years so I’m used to being very active!) I want to get back to changing the world and I believe with your help I will!