Schuyler Arakawa: Back on Two Feet
Photo: Megan Hoffer Photography
Schuyler’s Story
The year after graduating from Yale, Schuyler embarked on a Yale Fellowship in South America, where she was working to expand job opportunities for women. While on a weekend rafting adventure in Colombia, she was exploring a grotto when a boulder dislodged and sent her plunging into the water below.
Schuyler was transported to a local hospital, then to Bogota, and ultimately medevac’d to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. She underwent multiple surgeries — including five brain surgeries. Her doctors were not sure she would survive, let alone recover.
After going in and out of a coma for two months, Schuyler woke up with the community she had built standing around her. In the weeks following her accident, the love and strength of that community were visible in full force. A GoFundMe campaign raised more than $200,000 for her emergency medical care. Friends traveled to Miami every weekend, and those farther away shared updates and encouragement through a Facebook page, “Schuy is the Limit.” Fellow Yalies organized a Dance-A-Thon fundraiser and nightly prayer services for two weeks.
When Schuyler emerged from her coma, she faced immense challenges. She couldn’t speak or swallow and struggled even to sit up. But with characteristic determination, she immediately got to work — enrolling in speech, occupational, and physical therapy. Over time, she regained her voice, her strength, and her independence. Today, she continues to rebuild her mobility, re-train her muscles, and prepare to re-enter the workforce. Her progress is nothing short of a miracle.
Schuyler and her incredible mother, Meridith, live lives that look very different from what they imagined five years ago — yet they continue to approach each day with positivity, resilience, and love.
The Special Needs Trust
As Schuyler and Meridith have navigated this new chapter, they have also faced ongoing hurdles — both expected and unexpected. To ensure stability and opportunity for Schuyler over the long term, four of her college friends came together to establish a Special Needs Trust in 2019.
The trust allows us to fundraise, invest, and distribute funds on Schuyler’s behalf, ensuring she continues to have access to the care, equipment, and opportunities that will help her thrive.
Join Us By Making a Gift Today
Photo: Cedric Angeles
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 contributions toward Schuyler’s future appointments. You are not making a taxable donation by funding these sessions, but 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.
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 or unexpected challenge.
Provide long-term financial security so Schuyler can continue to build a safe, stable, and fulfilling future.
Photo: Brontë Wittpen
Photo: Cedric Angeles
Hi friends and (as my mom would say) Global Family,
It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since this journey began — and even harder to put into words what your support has meant to me.
When my life changed suddenly and dramatically, I didn’t know what the future would look like. There were days when progress felt impossibly far away, and moments when the simplest things — standing, transferring, speaking, feeding myself — felt like mountains instead of milestones.
Because of you, I kept climbing.
Your generosity continues to make it possible for me to keep showing up for my life — not just surviving, but growing. With your support, I now travel to Next Step in Orlando once a month, where I work intensively on walking and strength. Thanks to the kindness of the CEO of Chair the Love, who donates wheelchairs to people in developing countries, we’re welcomed into their home each visit — a reminder that community and generosity truly change lives.
I continue to make progress in walking. I now walk outside the walker, using it with one hand like a ballet barre — and I’ve even taken my first solo steps. Between sessions, we adapt exercises at home: using the kitchen counter as a barre, incorporating floor and standing work with simple equipment, walking practice, sit‑ups, and bridges. I also continue participating in physical therapy bootcamp at Nova Southeastern University, helping train future physical therapists, and I return to my dance studio to practice at the ballet barre — a place that still feels like home.
Letter From Schuyler
Movement has always been part of who I am, so I keep finding ways to stay active and dream big. I go to gymnastics twice a week (with a lofty goal of doing a cartwheel someday!), and I continue dancing — even adding a new role to my repertoire as The Grandma in my studio’s Nutcracker, after having performed nearly every role over the years.
There have been milestones I once could not have imagined. I am honored to be Miss Wheelchair Florida 2025, and to have received Miss Congeniality at both the state and national levels — recognition that reminds me how powerful kindness and connection can be. I attended The Rollettes Experience last summer, surrounded by creativity, strength, and possibility. I’ve also found an accessible summer camp in the beautiful Berkshires, where I now serve on the accessibility committee, helping ensure that others can fully belong and participate.
Along the way, something unexpected and meaningful has grown between my mom and me. Together, we’ve become what many lovingly call a Dream Team of Positivity and Resilience. What started as our personal journey has expanded into a shared mission — reminding others, especially children, that challenges don’t define you; how you respond does.
Through the One Million Boulder Futures Initiative and the My Friend the Boulder children’s book series — now 12 published books and growing — we’ve been able to share this message with families, classrooms, and communities through live readings and storytelling. Turning adversity into imagination, courage, and hope has been one of the most joyful parts of this journey, and it continues to remind me that healing isn’t just physical — it’s about purpose, connection, and impact.
Before my accident, I loved to travel, immerse myself in new cultures, and find ways to help change the world. That part of me never disappeared. It’s still here — still determined, still hopeful, still moving forward.
My goal remains simple, but powerful: to keep walking forward. To keep working toward walking again. To keep building a life that reflects possibility instead of limitation.
Your continued support makes that possible. Not just financially, but emotionally. Every donation is a reminder that I’m not walking this path alone — that there is a community that believes in progress, perseverance, and the long game of healing.
If you’ve supported me before, thank you for staying with me. If you’re new here, thank you for seeing value in a journey that is still unfolding. Your generosity doesn’t just fund care — it fuels momentum, dignity, and hope.
Together, we keep going.
With gratitude and determination,
Schuyler