My name is Rosie Lohr. I am currently Mrs. Moses Lake and I am competing for Mrs. Washington, because it is my mission is to bring awareness to the public about invisible disabilities.
I chose the Invisible Disabilities Association as my platform and my charity, because I want to give people with invisible disabilities a voice in Washington state and other parts of America. I desire to help people understand that just because a disability may not be readily visible, they should not be denied what they need and questioned at every corner they turn. It hurts. It is not their fault and they deserve respect and not judgment.
Why am I passionate about this issue? On October 8, 1998 I received a phone call while at work that would change my life forever. The call was from my father who was at work at ASIMS, a chemical plant in Moses Lake WA. I took the call and my father said, “You need to sit down.” My first thought was that something must have happened to my four month old daughter; I began to shake. He told me there has been an explosion at the plant and I needed to get to the hospital now. Jeremy (my husband) had been injured.
When I got to the hospital it was mass confusion and no one had any answers. You see, the small town I live in was unequipped for something like this and they had no idea how to treat the men who were injured. Silicon tetra-chloride gas is a highly volatile and potent chemical that can produce “acute tissue damage” (i.e. any moist areas: lungs, eyes, nose, any sweat). It is an acid and burns these areas.
My husband was air-lifted to Harbor View Medical Center in Seattle, WA. I had to leave my daughter with family and get on a jet from Moses Lake to Seattle. The doctors at our local hospital said he may not make it, because the chemical had burned his lungs and eyes so severely.
After two weeks in the hospital and some touch-and-go experiences, he was sent home on oxygen and so our journey began with his disability. He was diagnosed with COPD and after many years and many prayers he regained his sight and uses oxygen on occasion, but always has it with him.
To look at him, he looks healthy. But he cannot walk up a hill, stairs or do any heavy lifting. He gets winded easily and has a cough that never goes away. We have experienced much discrimination and judgment, because he “LOOKS good!” For example, one time when we parked in an accessible spot, a person came up to us to ask for ID to prove he was disabled. At a concert event, I once had to argue with security to let us sit in the disabled seating. People love to whisper and point when I am carrying the heavy bags of groceries and he is not. They don’t understand that he would if he could! There are so many examples of this I could go on and on. Written by Rosie Lohr, Mrs. Moses Lake
Cheer for Rosie on January 18, 2014 as she competes for Mrs. Washington at the Maydenbaur Theater in Bellevue, WA. There are 27 contestants from all over Washington.