For 20 years Vicky Aubry has put all her time and effort into raising her daughter and creating what is the Performance Mobility store in Portland, Oregon. It is what she is most proud of and it hasn’t always been easy. Over 20 years ago Vicky and her daughter were shot.

“My daughter and I were shot by a crazy person—I was holding her on my hip and a single bullet penetrated our front door, went thru her and then severed my spine. The crazy person was my neighbor and the intended target was my husband (at that time).  I got rid of the husband a couple of years later and I now love all my neighbors!”

Vicky spends a lot of time helping customers with disabilities find the right car and adaptive equipment they need to drive. She is attentive and understanding because she understands their issues. Vicky is also very active in the community, supports many worthy causes, and probably doesn’t give herself enough credit for how cool she is!

Read more about Vicky and if you are looking into driving… Go for it!

Occupation: General Manager, Performance Mobility, Portland

Injury Level:  T-10, complete

Current residence: Happy Valley, Oregon

Do you have a mentor? My mentor was Charley Hexom. He was the only person that I knew in a wheelchair at the time of my injury.  I don’t know what I would be like today if it hadn’t been for Charley.

Favorite band/kind of music/musician: I still listen to 80/90s music.  I am behind the times!

Favorite films: I love romantic movies…just ask my daughter—sometimes I have watched them 50 times (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry met Sally, Phantom of the Oprah, Mama Mia)

Favorite books/authors: Jonathan Kellerman, John Saul, John Patterson—I love books about serial murderers and interesting cases.

Favorite restaurant/food: I am told that I eat more Chinese than is healthy—so OK Chinese wins in my book!

Favorite beverage: Tea….all kinds, hot and cold or the Long Island version.

Favorite websites: Backbones—of course!  But I like to keep track of what is going on in my local community (Oregon Disabled Sports, OPVA) as well as my industry (BraunAbility, NMEDA).  Seems like Facebook has so much more information these days then websites.

Who do you live with? I have lived with my daughter ever since she was born, and in the last year we got a roommate who is an old friend (I met her when I was in rehab 20 years ago!)

Do you own a car? What make? Yes..well a van.  I own a 2006 Toyota Sienna with Braun Rampvan conversion—love that van—it never fails!

Where did you go on your last vacation? My last real vacation was to Vegas with a couple of my girlfriends from high school.  We had a blast! Aside from that my daughter and I go to the Oregon coast often—definitely our fav place!

Do you have a pet? My daughter and I have 2 cats….wish we could shave them—I hate all the hair!

Do you go out much? Yes—I am terrible at staying home (even though I love being there).  I love to hang out with my friends and go to movies.

What’s your dream job? You mean besides what I currently do?  I have a lot of fun with the people I work with –they are a great bunch of people! Our customers (most of whom are wheelchair users) are wonderful people and I can certainly relate to their issues!  Perhaps that would be my dream job…finding people that need help with mobility issues and being able to do that for them and not charge them anything.

Do you work out or play any sports? I used to play tennis as a walking person and played wheelchair tennis for several years.  I got out of that due to pressure sore issues relating to tennis chairs—and because my daughters activities took up all my free time.  I am hoping to start yoga!  Also, I got to do a little handcycling this year at a local event—it was a lot of fun!

Activities/Hobbies: Going to the movies (NOT watching them at home) and reading.  I like to travel but have been too busy the last couple of years to do much of that.

What irritates you? People that dance around the truth—it is a waste of time and energy!

What do you consider awesome? Helping others and new adventures

Where would you love to live? NW Portland (a more urban area) so that I could push around the city without always driving

What do you do in your free time? Hang out with friends, go to movies, and hang out with my daughter and her horse!

What do you wish you had more time for? Community activities…I would love to be on the Board for Backbones.  I just need to somehow condense my job down to 8 hours a day so that I could do this!

Dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you ask? Robert Kennedy….how to ask only one thing…I don’t know.  Amazing man!

How many pairs of shoes do you own?  Not many—this is one thing that makes me sad about being in a wheelchair—my feet swell to bad too wear any cute shoes.  When something new and cute comes out, I buy it for my daughter.  I live vicariously thru her feet!

Your default karaoke song? I have only sung karaoke once—and it will NEVER happen again!

Short term goal: To take better care of myself and possibly get around to seeing a Dr. next year.

Long term goal: To relax a little more and take life a little easier.

A quote you like: “Life is a series of choices” no idea who said it but ask my daughter how many times a day I say it!

Anything else you want to tell us? Life is whatever you make it—have a good time, no matter what you choose to do but always realize it is your choices that got you there! Just because you are sitting is no reason to not have a life!