Sabrina Cohen, the Miami Beach health activist who runs her stem cell foundation from her wheelchair, is a winner in SELF magazine's "Women Doing Good" contest and will receive $10,000 for her nonprofit organization.
Cohen, whose story earlier this year won the "Overcoming Adversity" category in Examiner.com's inaugural "America Inspired" competition, will travel to New York from her Miami Beach home for a celebrity awards dinner Sept. 12. She will be honored with the other two "hometown winners," along celebrities Jessica Alba, Kerri Washington and Jenna Dewan-Tatum, wife of actor and "Magic Mike" star Channing Tatum."
Cohen, along with the other winners, is featured in the magazine's September issue, which is on magazine stands now. Billed as the "Fun" issue, Cohen's story is featured amidst a mix of articles that include "Delicious Sex," "Sexy Body Secrets" and "So Pretty: Look Amazing Without Trying too Hard."
This delights Cohen, whose mission includes changing the image of the disabled. "What I find so rewarding about being chosen is that this award not only propels my foundation into a national spotlight, but also enables me to show the world that women with disabilities can be fashionable, successful and fun, no matter what disabilities we face," she said.
Cohen launched her nonprofit Sabrina Cohen Foundation for Stem Cell Research in 2006, but she has been a health advocate and speaker ever since she was 14, and was rendered a quadriplegic in a Halloween Eve car crash.
Since then, she's spoken to some 20,000 people, mentored hundreds of the newly disabled, and helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for health-related causes. She's also spoken at the United Nations, lobbied on Capitol Hill, and banded with other patient advocates including Michael J. Fox.
Cohen was chosen for the SELF magazine honor by a panel of judges. "I'm so grateful to have been chosen for this award," said Cohen, adding, "Knowing I was picked out of thousands of nominees is mind-blowing."
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