What really makes a person decide to keep fighting after so many battles and statistics tell you that you will not make it? What makes you get up day after day knowing that most of the doctors you have faced told you that you probably would not live long or achieve much in life? For Michelle Hess, it is giving 150% every day because for some reason she was given a second chance and she believes that it is through God only that she is here today.

A hospital bed, operating room, and doctors are not unfamiliar to Michele. At birth she was rushed to a hospital across town with only minutes to spare because her intestines were outside of her body, the doctors only given years to live. At the age of 27, she faced death again when an aneurysm ruptured in her right ear. From the time that the event happened to the hospital she was brought back to life three times and was left paralyzed on her right side. After over a month in a coma, 4 brain surgeries, and with part of her right frontal lobe removed, she came back stronger than ever and ready to fight the battle.

The list of all the medical miracles Michele has been through would leave you even more amazed, if you can believe it. The most astonishing fact is that she has not let the difficult recovery take control of her life. Today, Michele is in her forties and lives each day looking for anybody that needs to hear her story. To hear of the battles that she faced and how the guidance and provisions of God in her life has allowed her to fight through the list of medical battles she’s faced.

With her eagerness to show kindness and her ability to inspire others with her story, Michele’s life dream is to travel and to tell the world of the story that she was given and how it has not left her devastated, but rather given her the will to “fight tooth and nail to regain what was lost.”

We are so inspired by the story that Michele so happily shares with us and we consider ourselves blessed to be able to be her Service Coordination Agency. It is because of stories like Michele’s that Alleghenies United Cerebral Palsy continues to provide the support our participants need to live a life of independence.

Matthew Dickun is a 28 year-old, self-taught artist from Mount Washington, PA. Matthew lives with duchenne muscular dystrophy, but in no way does he allow it to define him.

Dickun graduated from Pittsburgh Technical College (PTC) with an Associates Degree in Science for Computer Aided Drafting in 2011. His education taught him how to use 3D software for designing mechanical parts. This gave him a solid base from which to learn 3D modeling in a more artistic way.

Matthew also enjoys creating artwork with colored-pencils, markers, and graphite pencil. He focuses on drawing subjects from science fiction and fantasy genres and had dabbled in other various traditional are genres.

After graduating from PTC he had an internship with Siemens where he learned that a desk job just wasn’t for him and decided not to go back after the internship ended. Art was something that he has done and enjoyed since he was young and he decided he wanted to make a career of it and began a website on ArtBalanced.com to showcase and sell his work.

You can find one of his featured art pieces here or go to his website at www.artbalanced.com/matthew-dickuns-gallery/ to see more of his work and even make a purchase to support his career in art.