Mia Schaikewitz (; born May 23, 1978) is an American TV personality and spokesperson for disability advocacy. She starred in the 2012 reality series ''

Push Girls ''Push Girls'' is an American reality television series on the SundanceTV. A sneak peek episode, and original premiere date, aired on April 17, 2012, with the official debut on June 4, 2012. ''Push Girls'' chronicles the lives of four women— An ...

'' on the

Sundance Channel Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly known as Sundance Channel (United States). * Sundance Channel (Canada) * Sundance Channel (Netherlands) * Sundance Channel (Europe) * Sundance Channel (Iberia) * Sundance Channel (Asia) Sundanc ...

Early life and career

A competitive swimmer at the time, Schaikewitz became paralyzed from the waist down "over the course of a half-day" after an

arteriovenous malformation Arteriovenous malformation is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, bypassing the capillary system. This vascular anomaly is widely known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system (usually cerebral AVM), but can appea ...

(AVM) ruptured in her spinal cord when she was 15. She went on to graduate with a degree from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

where she developed a career in graphic design and branding. In 2012, she decided to return to the sport of competitive swimming after 17 years, as documented in Season 1 of the show ''

''.

Awards and nominations

* In 2013, ''Push Girls'' won the Critics' Choice Best Reality Series award.

References

External links

*
Mia Schaikewitz
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

* Living people American film actresses American television actresses Jewish American actresses Participants in American reality television series People with paraplegia 21st-century American actresses 1978 births University of Florida alumni American actors with disabilities 21st-century American Jews {{US-tv-actor-1970s-stub