provided to The Santiva Chronicle
Some stories don’t begin with strength—they reveal it through courage and a smile. When Susie Wilson wheeled her wheelchair to the front of the room, the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary wasn’t just hearing from another speaker; they were meeting a survivor who didn’t let limitations define her.
Born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disability often misunderstood as a life defined by impossibilities, Wilson brought a voice shaped by resilience, insight, adaptability, and lived experience. Through honesty, clarity, and a sense of humor, Wilson shared about OI not as a barrier to possibilities, but as a lens through which courage, adaptability, and determination come sharply into focus.
Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) literally means “imperfectly formed bones” and is a rare, complex genetic disorder often characterized by bones that break easily, aka Brittle Bones Disease. The vast majority of OI is caused by mutations in genes that affect the structure of type I collagen or genes whose proteins interact directly with it…