How Toddler With Spina Bifida Reacted to Receiving Barbie in Wheelchair

An Ohio 2-year-old with Spina Bifida was more than ecstatic when she received a Barbie doll in a wheelchair. 

Ella Rogers' face lit up when she received the doll on Christmas, her mother said. 

“When she opened it…her face was priceless,” Ella’s mom, Lacey Brown-Rogers, told InsideEdition.com. 

Brown-Rogers, of Johnstown, was pregnant when she learned Ella had Spina Bifida. When she was less than 24 hours old, Ella had an operation to close her back.

The toddler is paralyzed from the chest down and has to use a catheter daily, but her mom said the processes don't faze her daughter. 

“She’s pretty complicated on paper but she’s super, super sweet. She’s super easy going. You hardly ever hear her make a peep,” Brown-Rogers said. 

It really warmed the Brown-Rogers' heart to see her daughter represented by Mattel, the makers of Barbie. The company also makes dolls with prosthetic limbs.

“Ella is just like any other child. She is nonverbal but she communicates through sign language and she understands everything you’re saying,” Brown-Rogers said. “To know that she was included with a Barbie in a wheelchair is incredible, because it’s someone just like her.”

The mom said when she posted a video of Ella playing with the doll to Facebook, she never expected to receive such a great amount of support. Mattel also sent Ella an array of different dolls when they saw her cute reaction.

“Everybody has reached out and they want to hear our story and we are just average people. It’s amazing. I never thought it would go as far as it has,” Brown-Rogers added.

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