KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Dahlia Swanson has already done more in her life than many people will achieve in a lifetime.
She’s undergone intensive neurosurgery and defied the expectations of doctors by walking out of the hospital. She’s traveled across the country to meet with public officials and advocate for inclusivity. She’s walked the runway in New York Fashion Week.
And she’s only 5 years old.
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Dahlia, of Alto, was crowned as the very first Little Miss Wheelchair America last year, and she’s using her platform to advocate for a more inclusive and accessible world. Born with cerebral palsy, she’s fiercely determined to help others with disabilities achieve whatever they set their minds to.
“I’m proud of how I can do anything I want, and it’s awesome that I can show people that you can do anything with a disability, adult or kid,” she said.
‘Now the ice is in my veins’
From her earliest years, Dahlia’s parents say she proved she wasn’t going to let any obstacle hold her back.
Dahlia was diagnosed at age 2 with cerebral palsy, which affects her movement in the lower half of her body as well as her left arm.
The day before her fourth birthday, she underwent spinal neurosurgery called selective dorsal rhizotomy at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, where doctors severed nerves in her lower spine to help reduce muscle spasticity.
What followed was six weeks of intense rehabilitation at Mary Free Bed, where she had to relearn how to do things like crawl and roll — “starting back from square one, essentially,” said Dahlia’s dad, Brandon Swanson, 32.
At the time, doctors had advised the family to prepare for a long period in which Dahlia would be wheelchair-bound as she relearned many of those basic functions, her mom, 34-year-old Chelsey Lovett, recalled.
Dahlia was insistent: She planned to walk out of that hospital.
“They (the doctors) were like, ‘We love that that’s what you want to do, but we also don’t want there to be an unrealistic expectation set where it could be a negative thing for her,’” Lovett said.
But she did walk out, proving to her parents and doctors how determined she was not to be bound by any limitations.
“She had confidence in herself that she was going to do it, whether they told her she could or couldn’t,” Dahlia’s father said.
Today, the 5-year-old can walk around with the assistance of a walker, and she’s even starting to take her first unassisted steps, her dad said. And she gets stronger every day, participating in adaptive sports like karate and skateboarding.
Lovett recalled the first time her daughter played sled hockey with the Grand Rapids Sled Wings, a nonprofit dedicated to funding adaptive hockey.
“We sat her in the sled, and I believe the exact words were, ‘Now the ice is in my veins,’” Lovett said. “And then she did whatever she could to keep going.”
Being the first Little Miss Wheelchair America
In May 2025, Dahlia was crowned Little Miss Wheelchair Michigan, and last fall she was selected as the inaugural Little Miss Wheelchair America for 2026-27, making history as the first child to wear the crown.
Mary Zendejas, president of Ms. Wheelchair America, said she established the new youth extension of the Ms. Wheelchair America program to help “empower young girls to embrace their voices and advocate for the disability community.”
When Zendejas met Dahlia, she was struck by the young girl’s steadfast determination and charisma. It was clear that the then-4-year-old was the perfect fit for the crown.
“She was a ray of sunshine who brought joy to everyone at our national competition,” Zendejas recalled. “She was the first to arrive at activities and the last to leave, eager to participate in everything. Everyone wanted to spend time with her. Her energy was undeniable, and her ability to bring a room together was remarkable.”
As the titleholder, Dahlia’s responsibilities include traveling to events across the country to represent the Ms. Wheelchair America organization and advocate for inclusivity. The job has taken her to California, New York, Chicago, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and all over Michigan.
In September, she walked in a New York Fashion Week show where she said she was the only person with a disability on the runway. Dahlia said she loves fashion and plans to continue advocating for more adaptive clothing for people with disabilities.
“It means so much, because you can do things with a disability, even like fashion, anything, if you put your heart and hard work into it,” she said.
Inspiring others to dream big
Dahlia’s platform as Little Miss Wheelchair is “Play! Learn! Grow!” which focuses on inspiring other children with disabilities by showing them that with adaptation and hard work, they can achieve their goals.
“I want to let everybody know … that you need to adapt and you need to put your heart and hard work into it to make it happen,” she said.
She loves encouraging other children with disabilities to participate in adaptive sports, which are designed to be accessible for children and adults with disabilities.
Her parents say they hope other children see Dahlia and realize what kinds of opportunities are out there for people with disabilities. They said Dahlia’s platform has helped connect many families to programs they didn’t know about, such as adaptive skateboarding.
“They still can be a kid,” Brandon Swanson said. “They still can go out and experience all that they want to. It may not be the same as some of their friends or some of their family, but if they want to, they still can have that childhood.”
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