Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day Winners 2025

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Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day Winners 2025

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Today, March 25, is the federally recognized Cerebral Palsy (CP) Awareness Day! We are excited to announce the winners for our fourth annual CP Awareness Month photo contest. In February, we began accepting submissions in six categories that we thought were important to represent our community: adaptive sports, assistive technology, at work or volunteering (adult only category), celebrations & holidays, doing what you love (adult only category) and people of color. Each of the following submissions were selected by being the top three appropriate* photos in these categories in votes out of 24,810 counted:

Adaptive Sports Category

1st Prize ($100)2nd prize ($75)3rd prize ($50)

A young girl with long dark hair in her wheelchair by a basketball net.

Callie loves playing wheelchair basketball. She has learned such valuable lessons, such as teamwork, patience, and perseverance. We are so lucky these programs are available in her school.

A boy in a bright red shirt smiles holding a baseball bat over his shoulder.

Class of 2039, Louisiana, 3′ 1″ 29lbs, 21MPH from the left side, Right handed hitter

A girl with long brown hair sits smiling with her wheelchair basketball teammates.

Arlie loves getting her exer playing wheelchair basketball

Assistive Technology Category

1st Prize ($100)2nd prize ($75)3rd prize ($50)

A young girl with blonde hair stands smiling in her gait trainer.

Piper working hard in her gait trainer! Her determination is amazing!

A young girl with brown hair sits in her adaptive chair.

Everlynn is unable to sit on her own. Since she has received her assistive seat she is able to enjoy so much more!

A young boy with red rimmed glasses smiles standing with crutches

Mr. Caleb at CP Family Education Day 2024 at Childrens Mercy Hospital KCMO

At Work or Volunteering Category (Adults Only)

1st Prize ($100)2nd prize ($75)3rd prize ($50)

A woman with short blonde hair and glasses smiles while signing a book she published.

I’m signing my first published book for people.

A man in a hat with a beard scrapes paint off a car part

Learning skills to build a monster truck

A woman in a floral top sitting in a wheel chair smiles.

Preparing to serve complimentary ice cream to legislators

Celebrations & Holidays

1st Prize ($100)2nd prize ($75)3rd prize ($50)

A young girl in a pirate customs poses with a cartoon character and her Halloween basket

Flora loves going out and trick or trearting with her brother and friends in the neighborhood.

A young boy in a blue shirt smiles in his stroller at Disneyland

From the very beginning, Asher has always shown a love for Mickey Mouse. He was granted his wish to go to Disney in 2023 and it was truly a dream come true. I love seeing my sweet boy so happy! It’s crazy to think that a mouse could bring so much joy! We celebrated his wish in many ways at Disney and it will be a once in a lifetime memory that we will always cherish!

A young boy dressed as an elf in yellow pants, a green jacket and red hat.

Santa’s biggest helper. His strength shines through his grins every day!

Doing what you love (Adults Only)

1st Prize ($100)2nd prize ($75)3rd prize ($50)

A young man standing in an ice hockey jersey and hat at an ice rink.

AV For The Day – Kroenke Sports Charities

A man in track chair and a hat trains his dog with cattle.

I have been training stock dogs with my brother Jared for several years now. I use my track chair to do this. We have traveled all around to show in different states. We get up and start early every morning and work most of the day. You can see my dog Possum on the other side of the cows. I love doing this.

A woman in a blue sleeveless dress and long brown hair stands in her walker.

Brittany living her life at the fullest at Tim Tebows Night to Shine. Loves dancing and having fun.

People of Color

1st Prize ($100)2nd prize ($75)3rd prize ($50)

A young girl in a green shirt smiles broadly while clasping her hands together.

Autumn is a very special little girl. She is a miracle and truly a lil native American warrior. Spirt of winds “indian name” smile can always brighten your day.

A young boy in blue pant suit smiles sitting on a couch.

Dressed up for the school Snowflake Ball

A young girl with gray wig, glasses in a blue collared shirt.

Journee is wearing her old lady costume to celebrate her 100th day of 2nd grade.

Congratulations to each of these photographers and subjects for their selection and their prizes of $100 for 1st place, $75 for 2nd place and $50 for 3rd place.

Best Photo Overall

In addition to these winners, the staff and volunteers of the CP Research Network voted for best overall photograph in terms of what represented the CP Research Network’s values. The decision was SO hard as there were so many great photos. The winner is:

A closeup of a woman looking lovingly at her son in her arms.

O’neil, a sweet and loveable four year old boy with mixed cerebral palsy, drug resistant epilepsy and severe disability rests in his mother’s arms. Her gaze holds deep love and strength, a silent promise of unwavering care. Though his journey is tough, his warmth and spirit shine, touching hearts effortlessly.

Congratulations to Audrey Maris Webombesa for her picture of O’Neil entitled for the photo “In Mama’s arms, the world feels light.” for the $500 prize!

Honorable Mentions (9)

The photos were so great again this year that we decided to expand our funds for honorable mentions. The staff recommended a number of honorable mentions. Thanks to you all for these great photos!

Honorable mention

A young girl with blonde hair and glasses smiles in a red and white striped dress

Meet Evelyn, a 6-year-old CP warrior who never lets anything slow her down.

A girl with red hair sits on a therapy swing with her therapist behind her.

Jordyn is working on her core strength, balance, and stability while doing one of her favorite things, swinging in therapy.

A young boy smiles gleefully strapped into a child swing.

Poor head and truck control doesn’t stop little man from enjoying a good swing at the park. Adaptive equipment rocks!!

A young woman sits in a wheelchair with a white top and red and green tutu.

Bella feels her freedom when she is in the dancing. music has been a great part of her life since she was little.

A man with a white shirt and glasses sits in a power soccer chair approach the ball.

Luke enjoys competing with the Turnstone Flyers Power Soccer team in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

A boy in a bike helmet and sports glasses with a red sleeved shirt races his three wheeled yellow chair

Laser focused in getting to the finish line for the para sport regional games.

A little girl with a bright yellow jacket smiles while holding on to the saddle of her horse

Amelia enjoying the sun while at riding therapy. Horse back riding therapy has been such a huge help in developing her skills, while she gets to enjoy it.

A boy smiles with a luminescent ring around his neck while roller skating in his walker

Skating into inclusion!

A shirtless young boy reaches for a bubble with his left arm

Darragh bubble hunting with his strong arm

Thank you to EVERYONE that participated – submissions, shares and votes. We hope the sharing of pictures and our awareness banners helped you all create awareness for CP and celebrate our vibrant community! Wear your green proudly today! We will be in touch about your prizes over the next week!

*Photos needed to address the subject matter and restrictions of each category.

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