Iowan is second in Ms. Wheelchair America contest

An Iowa woman is now on stand-by for wearing the crown in the Ms. Wheelchair America pageant. Jamie Barker isn’t coming home to Urbandale from Florida with “the” title, but she got close. A South Carolina woman was crowed Ms. Wheelchair America Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, but Barker was named the first runner-up. Cerebral palsy has forced Barker to live all of her 24-years in a wheelchair, but she jokes it gets her great parking, front-row concert tickets and first-class airplane seats. Women from 29 states took part in the event, which is based not on physical appearance but on each woman’s achievements in spite of her disability. Barker will continue touring Iowa, talking at schools and with civic groups about the many things people who are labeled “disabled” are able to do.