How Emma Is Using Her Positivity and Success to Help Others
Vivacious and engaging singer-songwriter Emma Cooper-Williams is hoping to enrich the lives of other thanks to her selfless work.
Not only an accomplished musician, the Auckland teen has taken on a range of leadership positions and is hoping to inspire the next generation to follow in her footsteps and “turn obstacles into opportunities”.
Emma was born with a mild form of cerebral palsy and as a baby underwent two brain surgeries after suffering a haemorrhage. More recently, she’s become a wheelchair-user because of Complex Regional Pain syndrome. But she defies her disabilities to thrive as a successful young woman who is determined to make a difference.
Bullied at school, Emma found her formative years difficult as she struggled fit in.
“I felt different and I maybe took a little longer to develop socially,” she recalls.
“I remember one particular incident when I scraped the whole of one side of my body after an older boy pushed me to the concrete at intermediate school. I was very upset when he denied pushing me and just said I had fallen over, which I often did because of my cerebral palsy.”
Liberation eventually came for Emma came through her passion for music. A member of the primary school choir, she sang solos and later played the guitar, banjo, drums and keyboard.
Esta historia es de la edición August 6, 2018 de New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
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Esta historia es de la edición August 6, 2018 de New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
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