BUFFALO, N.Y. — In March of 2016, Ashley Kern was left paralyzed after a shooting. It's a story she told Jennifer Hudson on her national talk show.
Later she spoke with 2 On Your Side's Claudine Ewing.
"I really don't have the words to describe like how it felt to share my story on such like a big platform and and just get awareness throughout the world," Kern said.
Awareness that not even a wheelchair can take away a dream. She and her twin sister Alexandria always wanted to be nurses.
"I was embarrassed to be seen in my chair at first and I wanted to hide and I needed to remind myself that I fought my way to this chair and not a coffin, so I'm here today and I just want to continue to live my life and my dreams," Kern said.
In December of 2023, they graduated from Trocaire. Alexandria is a nurse at Mercy Hospital. Her sister will soon join her.
"I hope to be that nurse, that when I roll into a patient's room, they're like, 'Oh, my goodness.' Like, this is my inspiration and my hope," she said.
Hudson gifted the sisters with a multi-night stay at a Wyndham of their choice.