On the weekend of her third wedding anniversary in June 1998, Rosemarie Rossetti was biking a central Ohio trail just ahead of her husband, Mark, when a 7,000-pound tree fell on her.

It flattened the bicycle and left Rossetti with two broken vertebrae in her neck, five more broken in her back and an injured spinal cord. After nearly five hours of surgery, the doctors told the couple that Rossetti was paralyzed from the waist down.

"It changed my life completely," she said. "Hardly any phases of my life and business have not been affected".

After a year of rehabilitation, Rossetti went back to her professional speaking career. A horticulturist by training, she speaks about 30 times annually and tells her remarkable story to businesses and nonprofit groups.

But she needed to get to her engagements in order to deliver the speeches, and she had to get to the grocery store and the gym too.

So Rossetti bought a white 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan for $28,000 and had it converted so she could drive it.

'The day I bought the van, I handed the keys back to the dealer," she said.

The van was sent to a Winamac, Ind., company called the Braun Corp. Among a number of alterations, the vehicle's floor was lowered about 8 inches so she could maneuver her wheelchair inside the cabin.

Today, at the press of a button on Rossetti's key chain, the electric sliding door on the van opens, a ramp slides to the ground and the entire automobile sinks about 8 inches closer to the ground to lessen the ramp's pitch. Once inside, "the drivers seat rotates 180 degrees [electrically] toward me so I can sit down to drive," she said.

Because she doesn't have control of her feet, the van has been outfitted so Rossetti can drive it with her hands. She steers with her right hand and does everything else with her left.

'The acceleration and braking device is a series of rods and screws attached to the pedals," she said. It ends in a lever by her hand that is pulled down to accelerate and pushed up to brake.

Cost for these accessibility upgrades: $15,000.

Rossetti could not have afforded it-along with the private, personal care she needed for an extended period, which was not covered by her insurance without assistance.

She went to the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation for aid. (Every state has a similar organization.) The agency provides funding to help disabled people return to gainful employment.

The cost of outfitting the van was paid by the agency, along with a $10,000 electric lift that helps get Rossetti up the three steps in front of her house.

"Technology has given me independence, and man, is that an exhilarating experience," Rossetti said.

Contact: alex@technologytailor.com