Brenna Huckaby Shares Important Message About Accessibility and Inclusion

The Paralympian is a powerful voice in disability advocacy.

Brenna Huckaby / Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

American Paralympic snowboarder Brenna Huckaby has proven herself on the slopes. After losing her leg to cancer at the age of 14, the Louisiana native took up snowboarding. In the years since, her career has seen three Paralympic gold medals and five World Champion titles. She was only two years into her career when she first took a world trophy.

But Huckaby hasn’t only proven to be a force on the slopes. Throughout her career, the 28-year-old has made it her mission to advocate for other people with disabilities, whether athletes or not. Ahead of the 2022 Paralympic Games in Beijing—where she won both a gold and bronze medal—she led an inclusivity campaign, earning the right to compete in events she had previously been deemed “too disabled” for.

Two years on, she’s continuing her disability advocacy through her social media channels, among other things. In a recent Instagram post, the athlete shared a strong message about the lack of inclusivity shown by some companies who use disabled models.

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A post shared by Brenna Huckaby (@bren_hucks)

“If you’re going to use disabled models to show you’re inclusive, make sure those people can work and shop at your establishment...” she wrote. “One amazing gift we have is to do better daily. Everything is a work in progress but make sure you're working for progress. Representation matters, but now it’s time to be truly inclusive.”

In addition to her disability advocacy, Huckaby continues to pursue professional snowboarding as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Snowboarding team.