Jerusha Mather: ‘Cerebral palsy doesn't define me'

THE ASPIRING DOCTOR IS ALREADY MAKING HER MARK

- Sara Tapia

As a neuroscientist, Jerusha Mather is already one impressive woman. Last year, the 26-year-old was not only named one of the Australian Academy of Science’s STEM Women Changemakers but was also selected for the 2020 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Mentoring Program – feats made only more inspiring due to the fact that doctors told Mather’s parents when she was born that she would likely neither walk nor talk. You see, Mather was born with athetoid cerebral palsy, a movement disorder caused by damage to the developing brain.

“It means I do things a little a bit differently,” she explains to WHO. “I move and speak a bit differently, too. I don’t drive, and I have support workers to drive me around to places and help me a bit with cooking. But otherwise, I’m quite independent, and I certainly get the job done.”