The first thing most strangers notice about Allison Wetherbee, after they get past her lack of arms and legs, is she isn’t shy.
“I did what had to be done to have a life for myself,” she told members of the Decatur Daybreak Rotary Club on Wednesday morning. “I had a personality where I wasn’t afraid to try new things. I didn’t want to sit at home and do nothing. ”
Wetherbee, 43, travels the state from her Muscle Shoals home and speaks about eight times a month on behalf of Easter Seals Camp ASCCA.
She was 7 when she first visited Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults, a 267-acre site on Lake Martin in Jackson’s Gap, between Alexander City and Dadeville.
She became the camp’s director of community relations in 2007.
Speaking in a clear, defined voice that would shame some politicians, Wetherbee had the attention of the Rotarians from the start.
“I’m just sitting back here and saying to myself, ‘Honestly, I should never complain about anything going on with my life when I see what she has overcome,’ ” said Bruce Jones, director of Decatur Youth Services. “She tells us that whatever God gives us, we should use it for a purpose. That’s what she was determined to do.”
Woodmeade Elementary School Principal Angie Whittington called Wetherbee “wonderfully inspiring.”
Whittington added, “It is just amazing what she has accomplished. We take for granted all of the things she has been able to achieve.”
Wetherbee grew up in Camden and graduated from Wilcox Academy in 1989. She can’t brush her teeth, but she earned a bachelor’s degree at Auburn University at Montgomery and a master’s degree in mental health counseling.
She uses a dowel stick in her mouth to type in “hunt and peck” fashion, and published an autobiography in 2007.
Wetherbee said the most spoken sentence in her life became the book’s title: “I Was Born This Way.” Having no partial limbs, she can’t use prosthetics and is confined to a wheelchair.
While she spent her opening remarks to the Rotarians “getting (her plight) out of the way,” she dwelled on her favorite topic, Camp ASCCA, a place where she basically grew up. The camp was established in 1976, and she first visited two years later.
“It’s a summer camp like any other with weekend sessions for mentally and physically challenged students throughout the school year,” she said. “We also offer camping opportunities for people year-round.”
Wetherbee said the camp is the world’s largest of its kind with 26 activities. An average of 8,000 campers attend annually.
“We serve mostly campers in the Southeast, but we also have international campers,” she said. “The cost is $695 for a one-week session, but no camper is turned down, thanks to the generosity of individuals and organizations with gifts to the Campership Fund.”
Wetherbee said the annual budget of $1.5 million also is sustained by donations.
Underscoring what the facility has meant to her, she said she was 38 the year the camp installed a water slide and she took her first-ever ride.
“I work out of my home office, but I visit the camp five to six times a year,” Wetherbee said. “I was there last week for Rotary Day.”
Ronnie Thomas can be reached at 256-340-2438 or rthomas@decaturdaily.com. Follow on Twitter @DD_RonnieThomas.
