Ryan Mason (Kress) is a nationally recognized disability advocate, adaptive athlete, registered nurse, public speaker, and an internationally published model. You can also see this inspiring person putting her life’s story and experiences in the form of videos, photos, and writeups on her social media platform called “Chronically Ry.”
In 2019, Ryan Mason (Kress) was awarded the title of “Ms. Virginia Wheelchair” and since then, her stories have been published across numerous major publications such as Frisson Magazine, Scrubs, and Forbes. Through her role as a Ms. Virginia Wheelchair, Ryan Mason helped promote disability awareness and education as a voice for Virginians with disabilities.
We recently had the privilege of interviewing Ryan Mason where she spoke about her journey of working as a nurse diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS), which is a genetic disorder that affects connective tissue, primarily the skin, joints, and blood vessel walls.
Listen to the full audio interview here:
In this interview, Ryan talks about growing up in a loving home, with a happy childhood, a warm community, and how it has shaped her as an adult. She also spoke about her journey of forming Chronically Ry solely as an Instagram page in 2019 and how it became popular over time.
“I had started to progress by requiring a mobility aid at all times. At the point where I started it (Chronically Ry), I was just using a cane and being adjusted to be seen in a mobility aid in the public and how the public perceives people with mobility aids. It was all new to me to see myself as a part of the disability community. So I started this Instagram page, more just to share what I was going through with my family and friends, and it turned out that I was getting a lot of responses from other people who were diagnosed with EDS, or from people who were new to the mobility aids, new to the disability community and they really appreciated how I shared my story,” said Ryan Kress in our interview with her.
She further said, “And it was just that there was really no one out there who was doing what I was doing during that time. I started sharing exactly what I was going through, and exactly what I was learning by being a part of the disability community, about having to navigate the world of employment as a disabled woman. I guess it just caught on! And here we are, several years later and about 14 thousand more followers later, and it has blossomed not just into Instagram, but we are based on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Clubhouse.”
Ryan Mason uses her social media presence to inspire thousands of individuals with disabilities globally and aspires to impact the lives of more people for many years to come.