The words "Bridge Ellison" connote tenacity, optimism, and resolve. Eventually, the eleven-year-old girl became a well-known activist, writer, and scholar after overcoming several challenges that prevented her from moving past her immobility from the neck down. Because of Brooke's incredible life story, one can see how resilient the human spirit can be when faced with hardship. This blog explores the remarkable life narrative of Brooke Ellison, her contributions to society, and any lessons that her unwavering bravery might have for us all.

A Mishap That Changes Her Life:

For energetic and driven eleven-year-old Brooke Ellison, the world had completely fallen apart. When Brooke was going home after her first day of junior high in 1990, she was hit by a car. She had to use a ventilator to breathe since her injuries prevented her from moving her neck. Brooke's strong character shone through despite the terrible circumstances as she embarked on a life of activism, learning, and recovery.

Academic Success Despite All Odds:

Instead than letting her disability define her, Brooke made the decision to go against the grain. She resumed her education and attended to school with the assistance of a caretaker. Her honors-level psychology degree from Harvard University in 2000 drew international attention.

She broke down preconceived notions about people with disabilities and showed her own tenacity by becoming the first quadriplegic to graduate from Harvard. Starring as director, Christopher Reeve, who suffered a spinal cord injury that left him crippled, The Brooke Ellison Story (2004) told the story of Brooke's time at Harvard.

Using Adversity to Promote Causes:

The path of Brooke Ellison continued beyond her accomplishments. She developed became a vocal supporter of stem cell research, disability rights, and easily accessible healthcare. Her life has been dedicated to influencing public policy since she is so passionate about enhancing the lives of those with disabilities. Her master's degree in public policy was awarded by the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In 2002, Brooke co-wrote Miracles Happen: One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey with her mother. She shares her experiences, triumphs, and problems to encourage and elevate people around. Her narrative serves as a potent illustration of how bravery and tenacity can result in significant transformation for the individual as well as the community at large.

One of the first quadriplegic Harvard graduates, she became an author, professor and powerful voice for disabled people

Brooke Ellison became paralyzed at 11. Instead than letting her disability define her, Brooke made the decision to go against the grain. She resumed her education and attended to school with the assistance of a caretaker. 

Her honors-level psychology degree in cognitive neuroscience from Harvard University in 2000 drew international attention. Later adding a earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a Ph.D. doctorate in sociology from Stony Brook University in 2012.

Portrayed in "The Brooke Ellison Story" (2004), she ran for the NY State Senate in 2006, advocating for stem cell research.

In 2015, she co-created "Hope Deferred," a documentary on stem cell research.

Brooke used our QuadMouse Head Mouse controller by Broadened Horizons complemented by Dragon Naturally Speaking voice dictation to access her computer. She wrote, advocated, and fought for accessibility and inclusion. Her story embodies resilience and success.

 We lost Brooke in Feb 2024 at the age of 45 from complications of quadriplegia, her mother, Jean Ellison, said.

NY Times Obituary

As an 11-year-old, Brooke had been taking karate, soccer, cello and dance lessons and singing in a church choir. But on Sept. 4, 1990, she was struck by a car while running across a road near her home in Stony Brook. Her skull, her spine and almost every major bone in her body were fractured.

After waking from a 36-hour coma, she spent six weeks in the hospital and eight months in a rehabilitation center. And for the rest of her life she was dependent on a wheelchair operated by a tongue-touch keypad, a respirator that delivered 13 breaths a minute and ultimately a voice-activated computer for writing.

Her first words after waking in the hospital were “When can I get back to school?” and “Will I be left back?” her mother said in a phone interview.

A gifted student, she was accepted by and given a full scholarship to Harvard, which subsidized her medical costs; graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in cognitive neuroscience in 2000 and delivered a commencement address; earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government; was awarded a doctorate in sociology from Stony Brook University in 2012; and joined its faculty that year.

She was appointed an associate professor of bioethics and published two books. The first, “Miracles Happen: One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey” (2002), was written with her mother and adapted into a 2004 A&E film, “The Brooke Ellison Story,” which was directed by Christopher Reeve, the “Superman” movie star who was himself paralyzed from a horse-riding accident. Ms. Ellison’s second memoir, “Look Both Ways,” was published in 2021.

She also became a national spokeswoman for people with disabilities and for stem cell research.

“One of the few guarantees in life is that it will never turn out the way we expect,” Ms. Ellison once said. “But, rather than let the events in our lives define who we are, we can make the decision to define the possibilities in our lives.”

Ms. Ellison did not fulfill her childhood dream: She had been hoping to emulate the astronomer Carl Sagan’s career. But, her mother said, “We never expected her life to go in the direction it did, to have the opportunity to go Harvard, for her to hold a full-time job and be able to contribute to the world.”

Dr. Robert Klitzman, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and a colleague of Ms. Ellison’s on the Empire State Stem Cell Board, an advisory group, said of her, “She would roll up in her automated electric wheelchair to the conference table and remind us that human lives, not just cells in petri dishes, were at stake.”

Ms. Brooke Ellison with Christopher Reeve, both in their power wheelchairs on respirators.  Christopher Reeves directed an A&E movie, “The Brooke Ellison Story,” which aired in 2004. Credit: Diana DeRosa/Reuters

Her expected life span “would have been about 8.6 years,” Dr. Klitzman said. “But, with help from her family, she defied these expectations.”

Brooke Mackenzie Ellison was born on Oct. 20, 1978, in Rockville Centre, N.Y., to Edward and Jean (Derenze) Ellison. Her father was a manager for the Social Security Administration. Her mother’s first and last day of work as a special-education teacher was the day of Brooke’s accident.

She graduated with honors from Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, N.Y. in 1996. Her mother had perpetually been at her side as her surrogate right hand, raising her own in class when her daughter had something to contribute.

“I’m the brawn,” Mrs. Ellison told The New York Times in 2000. “She’s the brains.’”

Mrs. Ellison roomed with her daughter at Harvard, where the college outfitted a dormitory suite with a hospital bed, a hydraulic lift and other equipment. Mr. Ellison cared for Brooke’s older sister, Kysten, and younger brother, Reed, back home and visited his wife and Brooke on weekends.

Her honors thesis was titled “The Element of Hope in Resilient Adolescents.”

In 2006, Ms. Ellison ran for the New York State Senate from Long Island as a Democrat but was defeated by the Republican incumbent, John J. Flanagan.

Ms. Ellison campaigning as a Democrat for a New York State Senate seat from Long Island in 2006. She was defeated by the incumbent Republican. Credit...Kirk Condyles for The New York Times

In 2009, she teamed up with the director James Siegel to produce “Hope Deferred,” a documentary film intended to educate the public about research into embryonic stem cells, which can produce specialized cells that in experiments have been guided to generate healthy cells to replace those damaged by disease.

At Stony Brook, Ms. Ellison taught medical and science ethics and health policy.

“In 1990 we were living in a time when people in situations like my own were not necessarily embraced by society, and the path towards understanding was only beginning to be forged,” she told The Times in 2005, reflecting on the accident that changed her life.

“I didn’t want people to focus on what I had lost in my life, but rather on what I still had in my life.”

“Thankfully,” she continued, “my accident did not rob me of my ability to think, reason or remain a vital part of society. My body would not respond, but my mind and my heart were just the same as they had always been.”

Obituary  published in the New York Times