By Becky Pratt
Enquirer contributor

MADISONVILLE - Shirley Sewell is a driven person.

Which is why, according to family and friends, she generally accomplishes whatever she sets her mind to.

IF YOU GO

What: Shirley's Freedom Fund-raiser When: 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday Where: Madisonville Senior Center, 5320 Stewart Road How to help: Donations may be sent to Shirley's Freedom Fund-raiser, P.O. Box 27092, Cincinnati, OH 45227. For more information, call Angela Black at 671-1774.

But the 44-year-old Madisonville woman, paralyzed from the waist down after an accidental shooting when she was 11, is tired of being literally driven around. She recently received her temporary driver's license.

"I wanted to do this so I don't have to be at the mercy of Access (Cincinnati Metro's handicapped transport service) driving me around for two hours going and two hours coming, when I'm only 15 to 20 minutes away from work," she said recently at Drake Center as she awaited her driving evaluation. She said she lost a previous job because she couldn't always get to work on time with public transportation.

Sewell, who works at Lifekey Healthcare in Blue Ash, is eligible to receive financial aid for the purchase of a special van.

She must pay for the cost of the van itself, while the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation will pay for necessary modifications, such as a ramp and hand controls.

Kim Hewitt, coordinator of the Driver Rehabilitation Program, assessed Sewell's capability to drive, testing her visual perception, administering a standard vision test and studying her medical history.

Also assessed were her motor, cognitive and sensory functions, as well as her stamina, all important in allowing her to drive with hand controls.

To help cover the cost of the van, Sewell's friends are holding a fund-raiser.

"Shirley is very determined, and she commands respect from people because she doesn't expect people to feel sorry for her," said Angela Black, who met Sewell 25 years ago when both worked at he Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. "It's hard to say no to Shirley."

On a recent afternoon, Sewell drove for the first time. She might have done this at 16, but "they didn't have hand controls at Withrow," she said.

The hardest thing for most new adult drivers, according to Hewitt, is "they flip out a little - they get flustered and need to be calmed down" when they suffer sensory overload.

She said kids, on the other hand, "are fearless - which is a different problem."

As Sewell practiced in the Drake parking lot, her driving became less jerky, earning her a "nice transition" from Hewitt, who pronounced "not bad, not bad" at the end of the lesson.

Her boss, James Doyle, and other co-workers plan to help raise money for Sewell's van.

"I said to Shirley, 'You come in and do your job - you go above and beyond - all employees should be like you.' She's fantastic.

"What she's gone through in her life - I would not be able to maintain her personality. ... She's good for the morale of the whole workplace."

Sewell's mother, Mary Davis, said her daughter is not used to failure.

"I always treated her like she was all right, not in a wheelchair," she said.