Katy Sullivan on Dr. Anjali Forber-Pratt

Credits

Director: Julie Hébert
DP: Sevdije Kastrati-Dill
Editor: Vero Vackova
2nd Camera: Andressa Cor
Sound Mixer: Nancy Kwon
DIT / Camera Assistant: Megan Pham
Production Manager: Jeanine DiTomasso
Production Assistant: Adriana Gordon

Post-Production Supervisor: Courtney Graham
Dialogue Editor: Daniel Raphael
Colorist: Eric Mason

Topics

“She taught me to be my own advocate.”

DR. ANJALI FORBER-PRATT contracted transverse myelitis as an infant, yet this paralyzing disability has never slowed her down. She successfully sued her school district at the age of 14 in order to have the necessary ramps and elevators to have an equal education. DR. FORBER-PRATT has gone on to win just about everything else she's put her mind to. She is a professional wheelchair racer and Paralympian medalist, was a disability policy consultant to the Obama administration, and is currently an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University. Her friend and former teammate KATY SULLIVAN, also an award-winning Paralympian, speaks passionately about Anjali's focus, perseverance and generous spirit. DR. ANJALI FORBER-PRATT's motto: Dream, Drive, Do!

Our storytellers share these astonishing women with us conversationally and unscripted; we fact-check afterwards and note any major discrepancies for accuracy.

Storyteller

Katy Sullivan

Katy Sullivan is an award winning actress, Paralympic athlete and bilateral above knee amputee. Sullivan starred in the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning play, COST OF LIVING and has appeared on numerous tv series including STATION 19 and NCIS: NEW ORLEANS. Katy is also a four time US Champion in the 100m. She was among the first bilateral above the knee amputees to compete in the Paralympics in ambulatory track when she ran in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, setting a new American record of 17.33s and finishing 6th in the World.

Follow Katy on Twitter.

Featured Woman

Dr. Anjali Forber-Pratt

DR. ANJALI FORBER-PRATT (born June 22, 1984) is an American wheelchair racer who competed in sprint events at the Paralympic level. She is currently an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Human & Organizational Development. Born in Kolkata, India and abandoned by her mother, Forber-Pratt was adopted by an American couple when she was two and a half months old. Raised in Natick, Massachusetts, Forber-Pratt was diagnosed with transverse myelitis when she was a young infant; the disorder left her paralyzed from the waist down. Forber-Pratt went on to win multiple medals in the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. She also competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She has received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology and earned her Ph.D. in Human Resource Education. She is also a disability advocate, and was honored by President Barack Obama in 2013 and participated in a roundtable discussion about disability policy issues with several key disability leaders. She serves as a board member of the Siegel Rare Neuroimmune Association.