Who Is Shelby?

Jul 17

People usually ask “What happened?”

It’s a fair question.

They see the prosthetic leg. They hear about Together in Motion. They notice the nonprofit, the speaking, the car show, the support groups, and they naturally assume there must have been one defining moment that changed everything.

The truth is, there wasn’t .

Or maybe— there were hundreds?

I’ve lived with Type 1 diabetes since I was two years old. I’ve experienced unimaginable loss. In 2023, I became a below-knee amputee. Those experiences shaped me, but they don’t explain me.

If you ask the people closest to me who I am, I hope they wouldn’t start there.

They’d probably tell you I’m the person who asks a lot of questions.

The one with wit faster than a NASCAR driver.

The one who sees potential before practicality.

The one who can’t help but wonder how something could feel a little more human.

I’ve always been fascinated by people— not because of what they’ve been through, but because of who they are underneath it all.

Growing up working in cafe’s, nursing homes, convenience stores, etc; I’ve always been drawn to people in a demographic that makes them eligible to be my great grandma or grandpa. I love to hear stories, I want to know what makes someone light up. What keeps them awake at night. What they are quietly carrying that no one else notices.

That’s who i’ve always been.

Losing my leg didn’t create that curiosity, it gave it somewhere to go.

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When I became an amputee, I learned something I wasn’t expecting. The hardest part wasn’t learning to walk again. It wasn’t doctor’s appointments. It was trying to figure out who I was while everything around me seemed focused on what I had lost.

Recovery isn’t just physical. It’s deeply human.

It’s learning how to laugh again, how to ask for help, how to accept help.

How to trust your body when it feels unfamiliar. How to imagine a future that looks different than the one you planned.

Those aren’t things you can solve with a checklist. They’re things you survive one conversation at a time.

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Together in Motion Amputee Support Network wasn’t created because I had all the answers. It was created because I learned how powerful it is when someone simply shows up.

Not to fix you.

Not to motivate you.

Not to compare stories.

Just to remind you that you don’t have to figure everything out right now.

More importantly, you don’t have to figure everything out alone.

That’s the kind of community I wanted to build.

One where people are seen before they're categorized.

One where questions are welcomed, and uncertainty is acknowledged.

One where it’s okay to have a great day, a terrible day, or both before lunch.

One where progress isn’t measured by how fast you walk, but by how willing you are to keep moving.

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Professionally, I spend my days building digital experiences.

Personally, I spend my time trying to build human ones.

Whether i’m designing a website, organizing a fundraiser, sitting beside someone who’s newly navigating limb loss, or having a conversation over coffee, the goal is surprisingly familiar.