Iowa woman raising money for new custom wheelchair

Sport has been a part of life for 21-year-old Maya Campbell for years. But now she says she needs help to get back in the game. Campbell is beginning a new phase in her life and says it’s no surprise this quarter includes basketball since the sport has changed her for the better. “I was a very quiet kid. You know, I felt kind of alone, couldn’t really relate to other kids. And, you know, I went on break and I couldn’t really do anything,” Campbell said. That was until she was introduced to wheelchair basketball at the age of 7. For Campbell, who suffers from spina bifida, it felt like a winner. “My mom took me the following Saturday and was immediately hooked,” Campbell said. She played for the Nebraska Red Dawgs at UNO through high school. Even winning a national NIT championship. “My most memorable is definitely this championship,” said Campbell. After taking some time off after graduating, she decided to try again. But there is a problem. “A big part of wheelchair basketball is obviously the wheelchair,” Campbell said. With the support of her friend, who is on the team, Campbell will start at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater this fall. But she needs to earn $4,300 for a custom-made wheelchair. “It would be a difficult challenge for me to deal with the wheelchair that doesn’t fit me. I can’t move properly in it or, you know, I could hurt myself if something breaks off the chair,” he told Campbell. And she hopes to start college in the spotlight, not on the sidelines. “It would be my first wheelchair that really fits me and I could, you know, get back into the sport that I love,” Campbell said. Campbell says she hopes to make the Paralympic team one day. To help Campbell achieve her goal, click here.