Inspiring 'Paralyzed bride' takes sexy photos

 

Rachelle Chapman became paralyzed from chest down following an accident at her bachelorette party in 2010.

Five years later, the 29-year-old North Carolina wife and new mom wants to be known as something else: a sexy, young woman, rather than as the "paralyzed bride".

  Sexy lady
(mirror)

In the photoshoot, she rocks lacy lingerie, she released on these pictures on her Facebook page to encourage people to see beyond her wheelchair, she also hopes it will help people to see the romantic potential of people with disabilities.

  The brave lady
(TODAY)

"With these images, I'm saying, this is who I am, this is what I look like, this is what I feel like. I'm still sexy, I'm still a woman, I can still be intimate, but I'm still the exact same person when I get in my chair every morning. It was a good, positive image to show who I am and what I look like and give a different face to disability."

On her disability caused by falling into a swimming pool after being playfully pushed by one of her bridesmaids which led to a fractured C6 vertebra in her neck, she told TODAY:

"After an injury like this, you wonder how can you be sexy and intimate again, and I think after five years, I've figured it out. I'm happy as I can be, and I want to show other women, not only in my exact situation but also anyone who thinks there's something 'wrong' with them, that's not who they are. I don't like the disability that I have, at all, but my disability is not who I am."

On the response from the public, she said:

"Some people were like, 'Oh my gosh, he stayed with her after that? He would be with her like this?' At the end of the day you think, 'Well, what is so wrong with staying with me?' It made me think about other women, and men, who are single, who are just like me. I wanted to do these photos for them, because if society is going to look at us like we're asexual and not good viable partners, then that's a problem."

Rachelle hopes to start a social media conversation through the #WhatMakesMeSexy campaign intended to encourage other people with disabilities to feel confident.

  The sexy lady
(TODAY)