A Tony Winner's Amazing Journey - The Unstoppable Ali Stroker

An Accident As A Toddler Left Her Paralyzed, But The Broadway Star Didn’t Let It Get In The Way Of Achieving Her Dreams

- Gillian Telling

On June 9, when Broadway star Ali Stroker became the first actor in a wheelchair ever to win a Tony Award, she was overcome with emotion. “This award is for every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, a limitation, a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena. You are!” said Stroker. But the actress, who has been paralyzed from the waist down for three decades, felt proud of more than just breaking barriers. “What I liked about winning was that it didn’t just feel like, ‘Oh, you did something to overcome being in a chair,’” she says. “It was actually, ‘We’re recognizing you for being at the highest level of your field.’ That’s what I’ve always wanted.”