Walking is something many people take for granted and most have no idea what life would be like if they were unable to. Twenty-nine-year-old Brittany Stevens may not be able to walk, but she sure seems to have a positive handle on life.

When Brittany was 11 years old, she collapsed at home and had to be taken to the hospital.

The doctors were unable to diagnose her with a disease; all they knew was she was paralyzed and could not walk. Even now, the doctors still do not know exactly what condition she has.

Her whole body was paralyzed and the doctors had to start from the beginning, with finger muscles.

“They kept telling me ‘Six more months. Oh, give it another year’,” Brittany said.

Today, Brittany has some upper body strength, but still is unable to walk or feel her legs. She spent her summer vacation between fifth and sixth grade in the hospital.

When she went back to school and was in a wheelchair, her fellow classmates had invented different scenarios as to what landed her in that chair.

“I just started learning to play with it,” Brittany said.

Her favorite story was the one about her rollerblading and falling down. The story was that she just fell and became paralyzed, which shows how creative kids can be.

“I liked that one ‘cause I was a really crappy rollerblader,” Brittany said.

Brittany is the oldest of five siblings. Her sister Taylor Stevens, 21, said she remembers being in and out of the hospital with her sister when she was younger. She can’t really remember her sister being able to walk because she was only four.

Taylor treats her sister as if she is not disabled and pushes her to get out of the house and do things.

“You want to be independent, I’m gonna make you independent,” Taylor said to her sister.

One of the hardest parts about being disabled was her social life. Brittany said socially it was hard because she felt as if she did not belong.

Things got better and she learned to laugh and make jokes about herself to cope with her situation.

“I always joke and poke fun at myself, it’s the best way to keep a level head,” Brittany said.

She was able to get away with a lot of things that other students could not, such as roaming the hallways during class times or going to see her grandmother who worked at her school.

“If there is some upside to being disabled, I better use it,” Brittany joked.

Brittany made it through high school with fairly good grades and took a year off before attending UC Berkeley. Due to medical problems, she was unable to stay and had to come back to Sacramento.

She attends Sacramento State majoring in business marketing. Brittany said it is taking her longer to graduate because of all the medical issues she has had to deal with, but she is excited to graduate this December.

“I like Sac State, even the teachers at Berkeley were stuck-up,” Brittany said.

Brittany wants to learn to drive, but being disabled, it is a lot harder to find someone to teach her; it has taken her about 10 years to find someone.

She went to the California Department of Rehab and was very disappointed in the way they treated her.

“For a department that’s specifically there to make me independent, they failed,” Brittany said.

Brittany was told they had no programs that could help her even though she felt they did.

They had her doing cognitive tests, which really offended her because anyone who has a conversation with her can see she is very bright and intelligent.

Luckily for Brittany, she found a program that works for her and has had her first driving lesson.

The type of car she needs is designed for her to drive using only her hands.

“Even though I’ve never driven before even when I walked, you are predispositioned to think about it with your legs,” Brittany said when talking about her first driving lesson.

For a used car for Brittany, it costs about $35,000-40,000. For a regular used car, a person could buy one for about $4,000-5,000.

This puts her at a disadvantage and can be very discouraging, but she is determined to learn to drive.

“Learning and having a life of my own outside of my bedroom has been an obstacle,” Brittany said.

Brittany friend Melody Varela started a fundraising website to help raise funds for a car. This is not normally something she would agree too, but Varela and Brittany sister Taylor were able to convince her she deserves it.

Despite Brittany disability, she is very giving and said there is always someone out there who has it worse off than she does.

“Every year she donates to charities,” Taylor said.

Whether it is an animal charity or a charity for children like Shriner’s Hospital, Brittany makes it a point to give back every year.

Varela and Brittany have been friends for about five years and said when they met they just clicked. Varela said it takes a lot to find a person you can trust.

“I’ve never seen somebody so driven about their life, besides me,” Varela said.

Brittany has not let her disability control her life. She has her bad days like any other, but has an awesome support group surrounding her.

To help her receive the funds for a car, go to gofundme.com/strivetodrive.