POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Doctors told Ashley Lopez’s mom that she may not survive.
What You Need To Know
- Ashley Lopez defied odds after weighing 1 pound at birth and doctors telling her mother that she would not survive
- Doctors diagnosed her with cerebral palsy — she doesn't have full use of her hands
- Lopez lives her life normally and now serves as an inspiration for those with disabilities
Weighing only 1 pound and with her mom on a lot of drugs at time, the prognosis wasn't good.
“I remember hearing about it. I was there at the hospital for a while and they had all these things connected to me, like tubes,” said Lopez.
Lopez survived but not without complications. Doctors diagnosed her with cerebral palsy. She doesn't have full use of her hands but was tending to her garden when Spectrum Bay News 9 visited her.
“One hand just stays shriveled up,” said Ashley. “But I still do a lot on my own – look at the garden.”
Despite Lopez’s tough start, she just signed the lease on her first apartment.
“The doctors told my mom I wasn’t going to be able to do anything when I was an infant and now I’m 23, going to be 24 years old and I’m doing all this,” said Lopez.
“I never thought I could have the independence I do today," she said. "I always thought 'I’m not going to be able to do this, but I’m out living on my own, doing what I have to do to survive.”
Lopez now serves as an inspiration for others with disabilities; showing them that it’s not about what you can’t do, it’s about how you move forward with what you can do.