When Trinity Jagdeo’s best friend, Alexus, was diagnosed with a serious degenerative disease, she flexed every possible friendship muscle in her body. In order to help them both through this difficult time, she spent as much time with her friend as possible. This time by her friend’s side inspired Jagdeo into creating a first-of-its-kind comic book, but not just any comic — one that features disabled superheroes.
The best of friends
When Trinity and Alexus found out that the latter was diagnosed with Type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy, things changed for them. Due to Alexus’s long and frequent visits to the hospital, they couldn’t go out or do all the activities they used to do together. Sure, they could still watch movies together, but after a while, they needed to shake things up a little. Trinity did some thinking and came to realize that one of the things that would cheer her friend up would be to have someone she could look up to. Someone who would encourage her to push through the pain. That’s when she came up with the idea of comic book heroes.
Taking initiative
At first, Trinity thought she’d go big. She pitched her suggestion of a disabled character to Disney but was sadly ignored. That didn’t stop her, though. She started her own nonprofit called From We Can’t to We Can. Through the organization, Trinity created a line of comic books featuring superheroes with special needs or disabilities, all illustrated and written by her. The project has been going strong for several years now.
The hero within
One of the things which make Trinity’s work so powerful is the fact that her heroes are based on real people. Alexus and other kids facing similar difficulties are honored and inspired by Trinity’s work, but they aren’t the only ones. Trinity’s game-changing comic books have gotten other people’s attention as well and now she is asked to speak at colleges and schools about her incredible work.
