79 JFK AND BEYOND

TV Movie Features Ellison

Brooke Ellison MPP 2004 recently saw her life flashed before her eyes. At the same time, thousands of other people did too.

At age 26, Ellison became the subject of a television movie that chronicled her journey from a childhood victim of a car accident that paralyzed her to a graduate of Harvard College. Directed by Christopher Reeve, The Brooke Ellison Story revealed the struggles and frustrations of living with a major disability and highlighted the Kennedy School graduate’s resolve in the face of adversity.

Reeve, who died shortly before the movie aired in October on A&E, approached Ellison soon after her 2000 college graduation about developing a movie on her life and the condition they shared. She also then began working on a memoir, published in 2001 and written with her mother, Jean, who accompanied and assisted her daughter throughout her Harvard University education. Ellison attended the shooting of the movie during the summer and the premiere at New York’s Lincoln Center, her own experiences reenacted as she watched.

Now pursuing a PhD in political psychology at Stony Brook University near her family home in New York, Ellison credits her interest in the field to the Kennedy School, which she says offered some of the most influential classes of her education. In addition to her studies, she continues an active public speaking schedule, aware of her responsibility as a role model and advocate for people with disabilites.

In The Brooke Ellison Story, the actress who portrays her says of her future: “There’s no place out there for me.” Many people, regardless of their situation, may feel that now, Ellison says. But she hopes she can help them overcome their doubts, just as she has tried to do.

“I can see the kind of impact I’m having on other people’s lives,” she says. “That’s inspiring and encouraging. I feel like there are things for me to do right now.”