Ava’s Story

In December of 2023, I was in my sister’s second floor apartment alone with our two dogs when the fire alarm started to go off. From my fire safety training in college, I knew I had to call the fire department to tell them that I needed help out of the building since I use a wheelchair and the elevators shut off when the fire alarms are activated. I ushered the dogs into the hallway in hopes that I could ask someone to take them downstairs to safety. However, when I went into the hallway, the fire doors were shut at both ends. There was no one around and I was trapped with the dogs and fearing the worst. The feeling of being stuck between the two doors with no way out, along with thinking that my dogs and I were going to die made me uncontrollably panicked. Ultimately, the firemen arrived, the alarm ended up being false and I was safe. However, when I returned back to school I faced another challenge: feeling safe in buildings where I was dependent on others to exit. Since then, I have worked through symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to be able to feel comfortable again. 

This experience made me realize that there are others who are in similar situations and I want to help empower them. With that in mind and the help of my sister, I have created the Check on Me Project, a campaign created to help individuals with disabilities or trauma and those who simply cannot escape an emergent situation on their own. With the eventual goal of becoming a non-profit organization, our initial objective is to create stickers that those who need help can put on their door allowing neighbors and first responders to know that someone is inside and that they need assistance. We are in the process of starting an accompanying social media campaign to raise awareness, start a conversation for this issue, and get the stickers to as many people who need them as possible.