Project began two years ago when Laura McKenzie was thinking of how to explain her paralysis to her own kids<\/p>\n
Published Jul 18, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 5 minute read<\/p>\n
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Laura McKenzie, pictured with her kids Sadie, 4, and Leo, 6, has written a children’s book titled Mommy Grew A Wheelchair. Photo by John Lappa\/Sudbury StarArticle content<\/p>\n
It began as a way to cope while she was in hospital with a life-altering illness, separated from her two young children and wrestling with what the future would look like.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen I was in rehab, I had a lot of time to focus on doing something,\u201d said Laura McKenzie, who was diagnosed two years ago with a rare neurological disorder that left her paralyzed from the sternum down. \u201cSo in windows of time where I was stressing about how I would explain it to the kids, I found it easy to just kind of write about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sadie and Leo, her children, were two and four at the time, so she had to use language they would understand and a tone that would make the big change in their lives seem like more of a fun adventure than a scary ordeal.<\/p>\n
Then it occurred to her that she could make the sentences rhyme, and draw some pictures to go along with them.<\/p>\n
The result is a children\u2019s book titled Mommy Grew A Wheelchair, which features images of the two kids, the author herself (both before and after her paralysis), and the family\u2019s two big, shaggy mutts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0719-su-mckezie.jpg\")
An illustration from the children\u2019s book Mommy Grew A Wheelchair by Laura McKenzie of Sudbury.<\/p>\n
McKenzie said she traced photographs as a way to begin the illustrations, so the subjects are very lifelike and recognizable, but her line drawing also gives them a spare, whimsical quality, reminiscent of the pen-and-ink illustrations in Winnie the Pooh.<\/p>\n
The prose is simple but moving. \u201cShe may roll instead of run, but her love is just the same,\u201d she writes. \u201cAnd together we\u2019re still laughing, still playing every game.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s just one example. Other lines have the same upbeat, reassuring feel to them.<\/p>\n
At first she only shared this work with her own family but after time felt it could be helpful to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor other little kids, generally their introduction to somebody in a wheelchair, if it\u2019s not someone in their family, is going to be at school,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I can only imagine how uncomfortable it is for that kid who gets all the questions and all the stares from the kindergarteners coming off the bus. So this would be a way to introduce them to what a wheelchair could look like and what a family with one could look like.\u201d<\/p>\n
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At this point the book is only available as a PDF, which can be downloaded through Etsy or Ko-Fi, although McKenzie is also in the process of making it accessible as an e-book through Amazon and hopes to have it printed eventually.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m also working on a colouring book that I will make available, as well, to anyone who is interested,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old mom said it would be great if she could bring in a bit of income from her creative work, as it\u2019s been difficult finding a job since she lost the use of her legs, but that\u2019s not the main focus.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than that it\u2019s just really creating awareness and visibility of the disability,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leo and Sadie are now six and four \u2014 or four-and-a-half, as Sadie will insist on pointing out \u2014 and haven proven to be quite resilient and accepting of the new reality, even if their mom can\u2019t kick around a soccer ball with them anymore.<\/p>\n
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But it has been a \u201chuge adjustment\u201d for them, said McKenzie. \u201cThey\u2019ve had to become a lot more independent, because when their dad is not home, there are some things I just can\u2019t do. They\u2019ve become amazing little helpers and really good at paying to attention to things around them, like picking up their shoes at the back door because they know I\u2019ll get stuck on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a bigger adjustment for McKenzie, who before her illness had led a pretty active and adventurous life. Prior to becoming a mom, the sociology grad lived in a camper van for a couple of years, visiting locations across Canada, and travelled to India, Mexico and New Zealand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s a bit of a production to simply get from the house to the family\u2019s van, although the latter has been retrofitted so she can drive it using hand controls, and the former has been equipped with a lift and other accessibility features that make life a lot easier than would have been the case otherwise.<\/p>\n
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McKenzie is determined to remain as active as she can, however. She\u2019ll go swimming in a local lake whenever possible and is hoping to get a bicycle soon that she can pedal with her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs my kids are getting bigger, I\u2019m trying to find new ways to keep up with them,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also become active in a provincial group for people with spinal cord injuries \u2014 even though her own condition, called transverse myelitis, was brought on by a virus \u2014 and has provided peer support to others who are struggling to adapt to their new reality.<\/p>\n
McKenzie said neurologists have told her it\u2019s remotely possible that she could recover use of her legs at some point, and there are some treatments, included epidural stimulation, available in other countries that she hasn\u2019t ruled out trying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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But in general she is not optimistic that she will walk again, and is just learning to live with that, as much as she can.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m generally acceptive,\u201d she said. \u201cBut strange things will set you off. I saw a mom crouched down on the road while her daughter ran towards her and the mom picking her up in her arms. That hurt, because I can\u2019t do that anymore. Or just something like getting stuck in corner and having to do a 17-point turn \u2014 it can be really infuriating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Writing and illustrating the children\u2019s book, on the other hand, felt rewarding, as it was something she not only could do \u2014 quite well, as it turned out \u2014 but that made a big difference in her own family\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me it was really a relief to do it,\u201d she said of the creative experience. \u201cLike it almost made it feel like it was OK. Just looking at it in a different way, it felt easier to accept. And since I wasn\u2019t at home yet, it was my way of visualizing what being at home would look like again.\u201d<\/p>\n
She couldn\u2019t have known for sure that the words she wrote while confined to a hospital bed would turn out to be the reality, but it sure seems like she and her kids are embracing the vision she had for their future.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer wheelchair is a part of her now, like magic that grew,\u201d her book concludes. \u201cAnd with mommy by my side, there\u2019s nothing we can\u2019t do!\u201d<\/p>\n
Copies of Mommy Grew A Wheelchair are available at www.etsy.com\/ca\/shop\/LKMMade<\/a> or ko-fi.com\/lauramckenzie\/shop<\/a>.<\/p>\n