Marca bristol biography of christopher

When she was paralyzed from the chest down in a 1977 diving accident, Marca Bristo recalled, “I lost my home, because it had stairs. I lost my job. I lost my income.

Marca bristol biography of christopher

I lost my health insurance, but I didn’t lose…that fighting spirit.” 

That fighting spirit was evident throughout the rest of her life as a local, national and international leader of the disability rights movement.

Bristo, who was a member of the Rush University Medical Center Board of Trustees and a graduate of what is now the Rush University College of Nursing, died Sunday in her home in Chicago. She was 66 years old. 

In 1980 Bristo founded Access Living, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that advocates and provides services for people with disabilities.

Bristo remained the organization’s CEO until a few weeks before her death. 

Throughout her life, she was an agent for change. In 1984, along with other people with disabilities, Bristo physically blocked Chicago Transit Authority buses during