Changing Lanes Led To Changing Lives

I was 20-years old when I was involved in a car accident which paralyzed me from the waist down, propelling me into the disability community. It was my junior year at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, and I was driving at night along a poorly lit road that was under construction. I remember changing lanes and losing control. My car flipped twice and I was thrown from the vehicle. When I regained consciousness, I looked down not knowing what to expect, and what I saw were my legs facing one way and my torso the other. My spine had been severely injured and the life I envisioned for myself took a significant turn.

At first, I was in shock and upset. My life of attending college classes, social gatherings and club activities had been put on pause. I had to re-learn how to live my daily life. Over the course of six months, I went to physical rehabilitation eight hours per day, learning how to do things like cook, dress, swim, and use a wheelchair. Although I had lost my ability to walk, I gained the opportunity to understand the needs of others on a different level.

When I returned to Hampton, I interviewed for a number of jobs before being hired by a non-profit called The Center for Independent Living. It was an eye-opening experience as I got to meet and learn from people who lived with disabilities since birth. They taught me about the independent living movement, disability rights and culture, and it led me to go on several visits to Washington, DC where I helped advocate for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

However, it wasn’t until my son, Marcus, was born that I realized how difficult it can be to get health care services as a parent. Marcus arrived in 2001 and had a few chronic health conditions, including a cleft lip and palate, and a small trachea that required suctioning. I experienced first-hand how difficult accessing quality health care can be. When Marcus passed away in 2009, I committed to finding and doing work that directly impacts people’s lives and helps them gain access to the health care and other services, resources and supports they need. All of my experiences have taught me that each community has its unique needs and that it’s up to people like me to help them find solutions.

In my role at UnitedHealthcare I have an opportunity to do that every day. I connect with various Community and State partners to learn what their needs are and we create solutions that provide best-fit support. Recently, my team partnered with the economic commission in Twiggs County, Georgia. Twiggs County has one of the highest incidents of late-diagnosed breast cancer in the state, yet many of its residents are unable to travel and get screenings. We are helping them establish a facility that offers mammograms, additional health screenings as well as cooking classes. We’re also laying infrastructure to create an expanded food bank so more people can access nutritious food. This is how we change lives for the better and it’s something I wake up feeling great about every day.

While my life has changed a lot since I was a newly-injured 20-year-old. It’d be easy to assume I lost a lot. The truth is my disability has enabled me to have a deeper understanding of other people’s lives and given me a pragmatic mindset to help them access the health care that will make their lives better. It has also given me the ability to open doors and change mindsets by modeling what people with disabilities can do.

Carmen Jones is the VP of Community Engagement for the Community & State Market Growth team with UnitedHealthcare. She has been with the company since January 2021. She lives in the greater Atlanta metro area with her daughter. The two enjoy attending theater performances together, as well as traveling. She has also developed an appreciation for the outdoors and as a new Georgia resident, wants to learn as much as she can about her new home state by traveling to beaches, historical sites and the mountains.