Mission Moment: The Long and Winding Road to Happily Ever After

Cue the romantic theme music. This story has elements of a movie plot. 

It began on a rainy night in 1988 when Maura McVann, a senior at St. Piux X Catholic High School in Atlanta, jumped into her car to meet her boyfriend, Kevin Coley, at a football game. She had gone only a short way before her car hydroplaned. Maura, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was hurled into the night. Her back was broken, and her scalp was sliced open. 

As soon as she was stabilized, she was admitted to Shepherd Center. Kevin visited her often, but she felt awkward and broke up with him. She assumed she would have a career-oriented, single life. 

Before being injured, Maura was a cheerleader, swam on a team, ran track, and played varsity basketball and soccer. As she recovered, Shepherd alumnus and supporter Bill Furbish returned to Atlanta from the Paralympics in Seoul with two medals in wheelchair track events. He came by her room and urged her to try wheelchair sports. 

Soon, she was rolling twice a week with the Peachtree Spinners, now the Shepherd Spinners, a wheelchair track team. “I found myself surrounded by people who were living their lives and not letting the wheelchair define who they were,” she recalls. 

Through the Spinners, she learned about the world-class wheelchair sports culture at the University of Illinois and enrolled there for her bachelor’s degree. After earning a master’s in speech pathology, she celebrated with a backpacking trip across nine European countries—alone and using a wheelchair. 

Back in Atlanta and working for the Fulton County School System, she bought a house and settled in. “I did not feel marriage and a family were going to be in store for me,” she says. “I didn’t even want to date.” 

A chance encounter in November 2003 changed everything. She was having dinner with her sister when Kevin Coley, her high school boyfriend, walked into the restaurant. After catching up, he asked for her number.

Three months later, they were engaged and, in May 2005, the girl who was never going to marry rolled down the aisle of the Cathedral of Christ the King surrounded by family and friends. 

If this were a movie, credits would roll with the kiss at the altar, but life goes on. Maura and Kevin honeymooned in Italy and moved there, where Maura gave birth to their first son. 

They returned to the United States to live near Mobile, Alabama, had another son, and relocated to nearby Daphne. They opened We Rock the Spectrum-Daphne, a gym and play space for children with differing abilities. Kevin runs the gym; while Maura practices speech pathology. 

Maura credits Shepherd Center with giving her the confidence to live a rich life. Dealing with her injury, she sometimes experienced “doubt, loneliness, sadness, and uncertainty.” Through it all, she relied on the advice she received at Shepherd Center. 

“I was told at Shepherd to ‘keep showing up.’ Even on my hardest days, I wheeled out the door and kept showing up. My gratitude for Shepherd is boundless.” 

Written by Gayle White

This story is an excerpt from “Mission Moments: 50 Years of Rebuilding Lives One Moment at a Time,” a book celebrating Shepherd’s 50th anniversary in 2025. You can explore the full eBook or purchase a hardcover copy here.