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Brittany Adkins
O U R F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 I N S P I R AT I O N
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Brittany
met Eric Nachreiner through her husband Mill. The
two men went to school together at Penn State Behrend, and then both relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina, where they worked
for the same company. Soon, Eric met his future-wife, Jennifer, and the two
couples became good friends...
Two-year old Nolan became cranky and refused to nap; it was a typical
Saturday. Later, Jennifer dressed him for a birthday party they were planning to
attend that afternoon. Suddenly, they noticed Nolan wasn’t using his hands and
refused to hold anything or even walk. Assuming he was just being a typical
sleep-deprived, stubborn toddler, they left for the party. Jennifer thought it was
odd Nolan wouldn’t hold his “Teddy”; they had become inseparable. During the
party, she observed that he still wasn’t using his limbs. Knowing something
was terribly wrong, Nolan’s parents immediately left for Children’s Hospital.
Over the course of one hour, their active son had lost his ability to move from
the neck down. In January of 2016, Nolan was diagnosed with Acute Idiopathic
Transverse Myelitis. His own immune system had attacked his spinal cord, leaving him a quadriplegic.
Brittany read about Nolan on a Facebook page that Jennifer had set up —
“Get Well Nolan.”
“I reached out to her shortly after,” remarked Brittany. “Due to my work
as a school psychologist, I thought I could help her navigate the complicated
system.” Jennifer was extremely worried about the change in Nolan’s personality and was concerned that he was becoming depressed. Brittany explained
what happened next: “I decided to write Nolan a social story. It had worked in the
past with school children, helping them process changes and new routines. At
the time of Nolan’s diagnosis, I had two sons around the same age. I tried to put
myself in Eric and Jennifer’s shoes and I was driven to do whatever I could to
help.”
“Having always wanted to write a children’s book, I decided to write a lighthearted story highlighting all of Nolan’s abilities instead of focusing on all the
obstacles,” Brittany said. “I brainstormed some initial concepts with my childhood best friend, Kristen Bell, who works as an art director/graphic illustrator
in New York City. She in turn contacted her cousin, Jordan Wiltanger, to do the
illustrations. I later involved my cousin, Shannon Vernier, who was experienced in
publishing. It was definitely a collaborative effort.”
At the request of the family, all proceeds from the resulting book are going
to pediatric spinal cord research. Nolan is slowly making progress. Eric and Jennifer remain optimistic and determined that Nolan will be given the tools to live
an independent life. “Look What We Can Do” is currently for sale at Amazon and
Barnes and Noble, as well as Tattered Corners in Meadville and the Twin Pies in
Linesville. Brittany has sold over 165 books to raise awareness for Transverse
Myelitis. “My sons, Parker and Mav, have heard the story many times,” Brittany
said. “When we went to visit Nolan, they weren’t intimidated. They had been
educated about children with disabilities and all they wanted was to play and
have fun.”
We are proud to introduce our February Faces of Health, Brittany Adkins.