Ashley Pettway
When I was eight years old, my life changed in a way I could never have imagined. My mother first noticed that something about my walk looked different. At first, it seemed small, but over the following weeks my legs grew weaker and weaker. She took me to the hospital again and again, insisting something was wrong, but each time she was dismissed by the doctors as just being “delusional. “Until one day, I simply could not walk anymore. Only then did doctors take her concerns seriously. A spinal tap confirmed what we would soon learn was a rare and frightening diagnosis: Guillain-Barré syndrome. By that point, the illness had progressed so severely that it had nearly reached my brain. I spent nearly a year in the hospital fighting for my life.
During that time, I underwent an intense seven-day treatment. On the final day, my body began rejecting it. The doctor warned my mother that if the reaction worsened, I could become brain dead. Faced with an impossible decision, my mother chose to continue the treatment, holding onto hope that I would survive.
And somehow, I did. But survival came with a new reality. I had lost the ability to walk, and doctors told my mother that I would likely never walk again. My mother refused to accept that as my future. She homeschooled me for nearly two years and dedicated herself to helping me regain my mobility, patiently working with me day after day as my body slowly relearned how to move.
Little by little, I began to walk again. Today, I still wear leg braces due to drop foot caused by Guillain-Barré syndrome, but I am able to walk and live a full life. Growing up with a visible disability shaped the person I would become. While studying psychology at Mercer University, I co-founded one of the first student-run disability advocacy organizations on campus after seeing how deeply disability could affect not only academic life, but also mental health and belonging. That passion eventually led me to earn a master’s degree in clinical counseling psychology. Today, I am a licensed professional counselor in Georgia, helping others navigate trauma, adversity, and healing.
Guillain-Barré syndrome nearly took my life when I was a child. But it also gave me something unexpected: a deeper understanding of resilience, compassion, and the fragile value of life. Today, I carry those lessons into every step I take, both in my own life and in the work, I do help others find hope in their darkest moments.