Remarkable Women in History: Joni Eacerson Tada

Joni Eacerson Tada was born on October.15.1949, in Baltimore Maryland, she’s seventy two now, an author, a Radio show host, an evangelical Christian as well as an international advocate for those with disabilities!

Joni was the youngest of four daughters to John and Lindy Eareckson.[1] Joni was named for her father, John Eareckson, so her name is pronounced like "Johnny". Her father participated in the 1932 Summer Olympics as an alternate for the United States wrestling team and was honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 1996.

Joni Led an active life, led by the example of her parents, she enjoyed horseback riding, Tennis, Swimming as well as hiking, but on July.30.1967 at the age of seventeen she misjudged the shallowness if the water as she dove into Cheaspeake Bay She suffered a fracture between the fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae and became a quadriplegic (or tetraplegic), paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Joni would spend two years in Rehabilitation and during that time she suffered from Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, as well as religious doubts. But while she was going through Occupational Therapy she learned to paint with a brush between her teeth, and she writes the same way. She also began to sell her artwork. When Joni left the Rehabilitation center, she left with the…