RIVERVIEW, Fla — Jessica James is, for the most part, your typical teen.
"I'm into reading and sleeping," she laughed.
However, one main difference is that at the age of 14, she's learning to walk again—after developing a condition called Transverse Myelitis two years ago.
"She was a perfectly fine, walking around, running softball player. And woke up one day and within a matter of 12 hours she could not walk no more," said her mother Natasha James.
According to Natasha, doctors still don't know why she developed this seemingly random neurological condition that impacts her spine.
"Well in the beginning when I was in the hospital and I'd see everyone walking around, I would kinda get jealous because I would just lay there and I couldn't move," said Jessica.
These days, she said the things bringing her hope are her friends and a device called a "Bioness." It is marketed as a rehab tool to help people who struggle to walk.
"I wasn't used to it because my legs feel so light and they were the first time they'd been light in a long time," said Jessica.
"It kinda looks like a blood pressure machine that goes on your calf. And since she doesn't have no neural signal it gives a signal and tells the muscle to tighten and lift the foot up," said Natasha.
To get Jessica a device for each leg, her family would have to pay thousands of dollars.
But to help curb that cost, they're now working with the Freedom to Walk Foundation in Riverview.
The group's main mission is to help people pay for these devices.
It started 11 years ago after its founder, Daisy Vega, used the device as part of her rehab for Multiple Sclerosis.
The group's Vice President, Suzy Watts, told ABC Action News
"It was a lifesaver; once she got it on after two and a half years she was able to walk out of it because the electrical stim taught her muscles how to work again," said Watts.
It's a dream that Jessica hopes to realize in her own life.
But in the meantime, she's sharing this message of hope for others.
"Don't give up because there's always opportunities in the future that will help you get through this," she said.
Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone obtained the most recent batch of Florida teacher exit interviews which detail, in their own words, why teachers left the classroom this summer.
