Paralyzed Cheerleader Learns About Being a Champion

For Bethany Norwood, a 22-year-old senior political science major at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, the semester's goals were being a good student and fulfilling her potential as a cheerleader. But in a split second shortly after the semester began, Norwood's life changed.

Bethany Norwood says she still loves cheerleading.

On Jan. 14, the men's basketball team and the cheerleaders were both practicing for the Panthers' big game against Texas Southern. In the middle of her stunts, Norwood said, she landed on the mat head first, breaking her neck in six places and leaving her paralyzed from the neck down.

“You know how when you get a crick in your neck, and you try to move it to the left or to the right, and it just won’t go? That’s how it felt,” she said. “It was just an uncomfortable pain.”

Norwood was placed in a body cast for four months. Today, she is able to move her fingers, style her hair and brush her teeth. She wakes up around 11 a.m. to take 11 different medications for spasms, low blood pressure and nerve pain, she says. After taking the medication, she says she goes back to sleep, waking up again around 1 p.m., when her mother helps her get dressed. Norwood said she spends the rest of the day searching the Internet for information on spinal cord injuries.

“I don’t feel that I am going to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life,” Norwood said, affirming a positive attitude.

A resident of Converse, Texas, Norwood said her family and friends have been instrumental in helping her cope with such a major life change.

Even though her military family moved around a lot, family members remained faithful to their religion, she said, adding that it is her faith in God that helps her cope with a roller coaster of emotions. Through it all, her parents have been there for support.

“My mom is my personal cheerleader,” said Norwood.

Marva Norwood took off from her job as a registered nurse at a San Antonio school to care for her daughter. She's also trying to figure out ways to modify the family's two-story home to accommodate her daughter's wheelchair.

Norwood had been a little unsure about where her career path would lead her. She planned to take a year-long break after graduation, then attend either Thurgood Marshall Law School at Texas Southern University or St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, which was closer to Converse.

Norwood said she understands now that the accident doesn’t necessarily mean that her life is over. She plans to return to Prairie View in the fall to finish her degree and said she believes she will one day use her voice to educate others about spinal cord injuries.

Prairie A&M University cheerleaders.

“I’ve loved cheerleading since I was 4 years old,” Norwood said. “Love and compassion go hand in hand, and cheerleading was my love. I still love it. I was dedicated to it, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Norwood has learned the meaning of the words humility, graciousness, kindness and friendship; hardships tend to bring those out, she said.

At Judson High School, Norwood’s squad won three national championships. But she says the accident showed her what the heart of a champion is. She is a college student on the road to self-discovery. She says she had complained and questioned her career moves, but when she was fighting for her life, none of that seemed to matter.

“A champion is someone who is courageous not just in sports but in their heart. I embody that, and I want to share my story. I’ve learned compassion, and open-mindedness -- my mom taught me that. I pray that when people hear my story, they will receive it with the same open heart,” Norwood said.

Dan Williams, the university’s chief financial officer, said that employees and students have contributed $1,585.75 to the Bethany Norwood Care Fund.