To look at him, one might think of a life, hard lived. Born with Spina Bifida, Dakota Frank is paralyzed from the waist down. Yet, when asked, he says childhood “wasn’t anything special.” There of course were those who saw him as less than a person. At times Dakota has given into thoughts of depression and “why me” syndrome, but these thoughts don’t linger long. The supports of friends and family have helped him persevere.
Living on his own, in a low-income apartment Dakota is his own person. He spends his time focusing on his writing, and artwork created on his computer. The one thing Dakota says he’d like people to understand about him and others like him is “We are not all the same. Some have more severe disabilities than others but we all have hopes, dreams and emotions just like anyone else.”