Alexandra Ingersoll
We were thrilled to hear that Help Hope Live client and perpetual advocate Ali Ingersoll was asked to host a TEDx Talk this year.
Watch it now:
“When I was 27 years old, I thought I had my entire life planned out…”
Ali had an adventurous, international upbringing and spent her 20s gaining life and career experience that took her from the Playboy Mansion to the boardroom to day trading in the Bahamas.
“I vividly remember saying to my mother, I love my life.”
A shallow-water dive left her instantly paralyzed. Advocacy became an immediate part of her life with quadriplegia as she and her family navigated the process of seeking emergency medical care from the Bahamas.
From pressure sores to cervical cancer to chronic pain, quadriplegia was only the beginning of a lifelong battle.
“I couldn’t understand why this was happening to me.”
Relentless pain and medical trauma left Ali with a broken spirit. She gave her family one year before she would end her own life, feeling not just physically paralyzed but mentally paralyzed, trapped in her new and painful reality.
“I felt so helpless, and so hopeless. I couldn’t understand the point of living this life.”
Following motivating advice from her father, Ali started reintroducing routine and purpose. She also began connecting with the disability community and introducing humor into her experiences.
Over time, as Ali fought tireless battles against her insurance company for what she needed, advocacy became not just a personal need but a bigger cause – something worth fighting for.
“I discovered my passion and my purpose – a purpose I would not have had without paralysis.”
Ali assumed overcoming her harrowing experiences would lead to a miraculous personal transformation. In reality, she found surviving wasn’t enough to make her happy.
She found that instead of trying to avoid problems, she could find the problems that she enjoyed solving. Ali’s advice to others: focus on what’s in your control and your definition of success, and move forward – always – regardless of the outcome.
“I have control of where I go with my life.”
The comments on her TEDx Talk video are flooded with well-deserved praise for not just Ali’s impactful and authentic remarks but also her humor, tenacity, and grace.
Written by Emily Progin
