Brooklyn pastor uses near-death, paralyzing experience to create empowerment organization

Just days after being diagnosed with the flu in April 2015, Pastor Asia DosReis-Whitehead says her health deteriorated even further.

News 12 Staff

Dec 6, 2019, 1:27 AM

Updated 1,597 days ago

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A Brooklyn pastor is using her tragic experience to inspire others, founding an organization to enrich the lives of women.
Just days after being diagnosed with the flu in April 2015, Pastor Asia DosReis-Whitehead says her health deteriorated even further.
"By the time I got to the emergency room I had lost all feeling from the waist down," says DosReis-Whitehead.
From there, it spread up her body, leaving her paralyzed. She was later diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological syndrome that kept her hospitalized for months. Doctors and her family were unsure if she would survive.
But she then experienced a so-called miracle. She slowly started getting feeling back in her body, and then pushed for more.
"I had lost my 'umph' ... because I was very discouraged with my state of progress … and my dad came in the room and he said, 'Listen, I raise champions, I don't raise punks' and he stood me up every single day until I could feel the floor underneath my feet."
About a year later, DosReis-Whitehead was walking again. Today, she says she's feeling good.
DosReis-Whitehead started UaReACHAMPION Empowerment Network, an organization to empower women all over the world. She's using her life-changing experience to show others that they too have purpose.
"It's all about just letting people know that miracles are still possible, miracles are still happening, it's still available to you, all you have to do is really believe it," says DosReis-Whitehead.
 


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