May – “Vintage Day Out”

May, a beautiful time to watch the earth come to life! What way to enjoy this season then by putting on our vintage outfits and taking photos!

DLM wants to wish you the best in this spring time! Get out there and enjoy life!

Big thanks goes to our wonderful models and their families for coming out on a beautiful day and helping us capture these vintage moments.

MEET THE MODELS

Ariana Cockrell – Brain Injury/Hemiparesis

At 2 1/2 years old Ariana had a traumatic brain injury which resulted in a subdural hematoma that basically crushed her brain. Ariana had to have a large portion of the left side of her brain removed. The damage to her brain was so great that the Neurosurgeon was doubtful that she’d make it out of surgery. Due to the massive swelling of her brain, for the next few weeks Ariana was placed on a medically induced coma and a breathing machine. Again the prognosis was bleak, at best her doctors said she’d be a “vegetable”; unable to walk, talk or eat on her own. A few weeks later Ariana was breathing on her own and the swelling reduced enough that they could wake her from the coma. Ariana had several more surgeries in the months that followed in order to place a VP shunt to help her body recycle the cerebral spinal fluid that surrounds her brain as well as to place a mesh plate in the left side of her skull that was removed during her original life saving surgery. Ariana had to learn to walk, talk, eat and play again.

While the brain injury has left Ariana with a seizure disorder, developmental delays and hemiparesis of the right side of her body it did not take away her strong will nor her kind heart. She has had to undergo several additional surgeries over the last 14 years, many of which were to repair the skull defect and subsequent infections. Not once has she complained or asked “why me?” instead she puts on a smile that brightens every room she’s in and is contagious to everyone she meets.

Ariana is a Junior in high school and recently attended her first Prom. She loves people and offers a hug, a warm smile and a sweet hello to everyone she meets. Ariana would like to work with children when she finishes school. She is proof that with a strong will, faith and a positive outlook that you can persevere through the most dire of circumstances.

Katelyn Miller Bergman – Quadriplegic

When I was 3 yrs old I was injured in a car accident losing both my mother and sister and leaving me a quadriplegic to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair.

I was told I would never be able to do anything on my own. Never really having the chance to learn many skills, as I was so little, it made learning every day tasks a lot easier. As I was not relearning them, but learning them for the first time. I’ve never let “being in a wheelchair” stop me, as I often say I am going for a “walk” because my wheels are my legs.

Through the love of my family and friends, they have brought me up to be who I am and taught me to be the person I know best. And now here I am, an 18 year old high school graduate, as well now taking the bus on my own to attend my first years at Pierce College. I have many goals I want to accomplish and I am sure I will in my own special way.

CREATIVE DESIGN / MAKEUP / HAIR

Bobbie Eller – DLM’s Creative Designer