Joci Scott was taking dance lessons at age 3. As she got older, she started to write, direct, edit and act in short films. She joined a community show choir in Akron. She appeared in musical theater productions at Revere High School. She competed on the school’s varsity cross country and swimming teams.
In 2019, during her sophomore year at Ohio State University, Joci was elected president of the theater club.
That summer, Joci performed with the show choir and appeared in a community theater production of “Mamma Mia!” In early July, she and a girlfriend took a quick trip to New York to see “Beetlejuice” on Broadway.
On July 19, 2019, Joci, her parents and her brother were traveling from Ohio to Rhode Island to pick up her sister from summer camp. Joci’s father was piloting the single-engine plane.
The plane began leaking fuel; Joci’s father started an emergency landing. After landing 2 miles from the regional airport near Poughkeepsie, New York, Joci tried to stand up but couldn’t. She didn’t yet know that she had suffered a spinal cord injury (SCI) on impact.
Joci was rushed to a Level II Trauma Center in Poughkeepsie. After waking up from spinal fusion surgery, the seriousness of her injuries – a fractured L3 vertebrae, a T12 spinal cord injury and paralysis from the waist down – began to sink in.
“I remember thinking it was going to be temporary, and things would go back to normal soon,” Joci said.
During six weeks in inpatient physical and occupational therapy at a hospital in New Jersey, Joci made progress with managing her daily self-care and learning how to transfer in and out of her wheelchair. But, she said, “I felt like I wasn’t in control of anything.”
A spinal surgeon who was friends with Joci’s mother recommended the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute; it had the best SCI rehab program in the area, she said.
Before returning to Ohio, Joci and her mother took a day trip to New York to see “Tootsie.” Joci gained a new appreciation for the difficulties of navigating in a wheelchair in crowds and on uneven sidewalks and encountering inaccessible theaters and other public spaces. She dreamed of one day performing on Broadway but wondered if it would ever be possible.
In late September, instead of starting her junior year at OSU, Joci was starting outpatient rehab at MetroHealth.
She clicked with physical therapists Darcy Kosmerl and Mandy Simmons, and occupational therapists Megan Anderson and Lexi Emerick. To her, they were the “Metro Girls.”
Joci told them she wanted to return to OSU in January and live on her own. The Metro Girls were surprised and a bit concerned, but told Joci they’d try to help her reach her goal.
Joci practiced dressing herself, and cooking and baking in the therapy kitchen. She increased her upper body and core strength. She improved her ability to get in and out of her wheelchair and push herself from off the floor.
Joci’s community theater director called to offer her a role in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Determined to perform again, she accepted.
Megan shared videos of a wheelchair dancer she had met at a therapy conference. Joci focused on balance work to help with moving onstage.
Joci spent evenings and weekends in theater rehearsals. She worked with a private choreographer on wheelchair tricks for dance numbers. Online she discovered the Rollettes, a wheelchair dance team in Los Angeles.
Three of the Metro Girls came out to see Joci perform in “Joseph.” She had seamlessly blended with the other actors.
“The support I felt from those ladies, they saw me as a person, not just a patient,” said Joci, who finished her outpatient rehab shortly before Christmas.
Before returning to OSU, Joci saw “Oklahoma!” on Broadway and met lead actress Ali Stroker, who uses a wheelchair, backstage afterwards.
Joci and her high school boyfriend Alex, who also attended OSU, had scoped out the campus’s curbs, inclines and entrances of the buildings where her classes would be held before the semester began.
When the Covid-19 pandemic shut down OSU in March 2020, Joci left her accessible studio apartment and returned home to continue her classes online. In August, Joci came back to OSU for her senior year. All but her theater classes remained virtual.
Joci had connected with the Rollettes on social media and was taking private dance lessons on Zoom with one of the group’s founders. In 2021 she became a part-time “little sister” team member and traveled to Los Angeles and met the women in person.
In May, Joci graduated with a degree in psychology and a minor in theater. By fall, Joci and Alex had moved to Los Angeles. The couple married one year later. Using special leg braces, Joci walked down the aisle with her father.
Today, Joci is a full-time Rollette. She also is busy auditioning for TV and film roles and creating content. In 2024 two of her films were shown at the Slamdance Film Festival and the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, both in Los Angeles.
“I wouldn’t where I am today without support from the people who were there at my lowest,” she said. “My therapy team made a huge difference in my motivation and confidence to achieve independence.”
Leaders in rehabilitation, research, and education to improve care for the most complex injuries and illnesses. Visit our website for more information about the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute or call:
- Outpatient appointments for adults and children, call 216-778-4414
- Inpatient services or admission for adults and children 13 yrs+, call 216-778-4167
