Milton’s Amy Simonson aims to become Ms. Wheelchair USA

For 27-year-old Milton native Amy Simonson, being first was not something to be feared; it was an opportunity to spread her wings.

Simonson, the first Ms. Wheelchair Delaware, has spina bifida, a condition in which the spinal cord does not fully develop. She ended up in a wheelchair two years ago after having a disarticulated hip amputation, a procedure that removes the lower leg from the hip. She said she tried prosthetics but found them to be uncomfortable, and having paralysis on her right leg, she felt it was a better fit for her lifestyle to use the wheelchair. 

“Before the wheelchair, I was very active. I farmed. I did photography on a professional level. And then life in a wheelchair, I let society tell me my life was going to be so much different. But with the help of my church and the help of my friends and my family, I realized my life’s not so different. Yes, I have to do things differently, but I can still live the same life I was living before. I just had to break through mentally,” Simonson said. 

She got into pageants after seeing Ms. Wheelchair Maryland on TV.

“I jokingly said to my mom, ‘Hey, how cool would it be? I want to be Ms. Wheelchair Delaware.’ Well, then the rabbit hole started, and I started looking into what they were about and how I could make an impact on our community. It was something I wanted to do seriously [to] show my youth group kids that even if you have these limitations, you can do something to make an impact on people’s lives,” she said.

One of the ways she hopes to make an impact is in improving awareness of the needs of people in wheelchairs. 

“There is a lot more that could be done,” Simonson said. “In historical towns, I understand there are rules and regulations that they have to follow, but not having access onto sidewalks, sidewalks being uneven, getting into doors ... Trying to get ramps in and have that accessibility, a lot of people don’t think about it, unfortunately. Bathrooms. Something so minimal can dehumanize a person in a wheelchair, instantly. Just raising awareness of the logistics of it. It’s all small things that you don’t think about unless you are in that position.” 

Simonson is the first Ms. Wheelchair Delaware and is planning to compete for the title of Ms. Wheelchair USA, a national pageant that will be held in Akron, Ohio, starting Monday, July 14, and running through Sunday, July 20. The title of Ms. Wheelchair started in Ohio in 1997 and has been a national pageant since 2008.

Given her career as a photographer, Simonson’s platform is called Change the Face of Beauty, and she offers free photoshoots to families with a child or parent with a disability. Simonson said she has been interested in photography since she was a child and in high school. She found that some of her fellow students couldn’t afford to do portraits, so she developed her photography business based on people who couldn’t get shots for Christmas photos or special occasions. 

“I’m most excited about being able to take my platform on a larger scale and maybe be able to encourage other photographers to start a project in their local area. Even if I don’t win, I’d like to be able to do something else for their community,” she said.

Simonson’s other passion project is Water’s Edge church in Milton, which she started going to seven years ago. She has now become a youth group leader.

“The church has meant an incredible amount to me,” she said. “They’ve supported me in ways they did not have to. They’ve got me through a lot of challenging times in my life.”

Those times included the before and after period when she started using a wheelchair. Simonson said church members have always been helpful in getting her in and out of the building, and are very supportive of her pageant career. 

The national Ms. Wheelchair pageant will feature seven competitors, something she would like to see expand to all over the country. For now, Simonson is proud of being the first Ms. Wheelchair Delaware, but heavy is the head that wears the literal crown.

“It does get heavy, and not just metaphorically, but for what it means and what I can do with it on,” she said.