A young Westland girl is overcoming obstacles with goals of inspiring others.
April Shaw has dreams of being on stage and she’s doing far more than doctors ever said she could. She wants to help others realize they, too, can overcome the odds.
“I like drawing, I like singing, I like dancing, I like parties, I like pretty much everything,” April said.
She’s your typical 7-year-old facing some very difficult challenges.
“When I was born, I had a spinal disease,” April said.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy keeps her in a wheelchair, but it can’t contain her infectious spirit.
“She loves to make people happy, she wants to make people happy, spread the magic of friends, joy positivity,” her mother Andrea Mitcham said. “You would not expect from a child with a condition that she has.”
April inspires all who meet her.
“I go to ballet, I do miracle league baseball, bowling, yoga,” April said.
She’s even broke into the pageant scene, earning a sash and crown.
“She was named 2017 and 2018 Little Miss Wheelchair Michigan,” Mitcham said.
And she’s just getting started, April wants to continue spreading inspiration and positivity as a motivational speaker.
“She is the happiest little girl on earth,” Mitcham said. “Everyone who crosses her path never forgets her.”
And this All Star has a message for all of you.
“You can do anything you put your mind to no matter how hard it is,” April said.
April and her mom are in the process of starting a nonprofit organization to help get her out and speaking to local schools.
