UPDATED: Legally blind, brain-injured dancer helps lead free ‘Caregivers Connect Walk’ to honor their often unheralded work

Malvern’s Natanya Sortland has become an advocate for the visually impaired and brain injured. Her new mission? Championing caregivers.

After a devastating stroke at age 40 and a traumatic brain injury at age 41 left her legally blind and cognitively impaired, Malvern’s Natanya Sortland relied on loved ones and caregivers.

For seven long years, they drove her to appointments, made meals and offered inspiring words.

“All I want to do is dance again,” she told her aides and trainers as she sat in her wheelchair.

Today, with a grateful heart, a cane, and a determination to say thank you, she’s back on her feet, dancing at her beloved Mojo Fitness classes…

(Left) Natanya Sortland in 2019 at the Brain Injury Association of PA’s Race to Recovery and (right) in 2024, warming up for a Mojo Fitness dance workout in Berwyn.

… and with 6ABC’s Adam Joseph at the recent T & E Care Fall Fest.

And it’s that resolve that prompted her to lead an October charity walk just for caregivers and the people who champion them, the first event of its kind in PA.

More than 100 people turned out for The Caregivers Connect Walk & Celebration. It was free, fully accessible, child-friendly and short – less than a quarter mile – with complimentary massages, music, face-painting, colored hair extensions, snacks and resources for caregivers. The festivities took place under covered pavilions at Charlestown Township Park in Phoenixville  on Saturday, Oct. 12.

Hosted by the Fighting Back Scholarship Program (FBSP), a local nonprofit that trained Natanya and provides free personal training to people impacted by life-changing illnesses and injuries, the Walk honored the physically and emotionally difficult work of caregiving.

“I had no idea what my caregivers went through during my recovery,” Natanya says. Though largely unsung, “caregivers deserve a life, too. This walk is an opportunity to find them the help and the community they need.”

Caregiving takes many forms and comes from many people: family, friends, healthcare professionals and staff, Nantanya says. All were welcome to attend.

The Walk’s proceeds will fund FBSP’s training scholarships and caregiver support programs.

Last year’s rainy walk drew 60. Natanya hoped to double that tally this year – and she succeeded.

The Caregiver Connect Walk is just one of Natanya’s gutsy and inspiring works.

Dressed as Lady Liberty, she has rappelled down a ten-story building dressed as Lady Liberty to raise money for VisionCorps, a nonprofit that helps the blind. Not once, not twice but for four straight years … and counting.

Last spring, Fighting Back Scholarship Fund honored Natanya for her courage and perseverance. At its 2023 Achievement Night, she performed her own choreographed dance before 500 people and received a standing O. She is now an ambassador for the program.

In 2022, Main Line Today christened her one of its Power Women of the Main Line.

And she has recently signed on as an advocate and public speaker for the Mind Your Brain Foundation, another local nonprofit that has helped her regain her independence.

Grit, thy name is Natanya.