Eva Martin was never a fan of sugarcoating.
She’d been in a wheelchair since she was 17, thanks to a spinal cord injury from a car accident. By 28, she had mastered the art of sarcasm, wheelchair ballet (her term for tight cornering), and ordering drive-thru tacos with a grabber tool because the window was just a little too high.
“Can I do anything?” she’d often repeat when asked. “Absolutely not. I cannot skydive, ride a unicycle, or sneak up on anyone—unless they’re wearing headphones.”
Her popular video series, Rollin’ with Eva, wasn’t about inspiration. It was about truth—with a wink.
One episode was dedicated entirely to “Tasks I Genuinely Suck At.” She wore a sparkly cape and announced the first challenge: Carrying a full bowl of soup from the kitchen to the couch. Spoiler alert: the soup won. “Gravity is undefeated,” she deadpanned, filming the slow spill with tragic violin music in the background.
Another fan favorite: Trying to reach the top shelf in a grocery store. She used everything from a broomstick to yelling “Hey, tall human!” until someone helped. “Disability isn’t about being brave,” she’d tell her followers. “It’s about getting creative and sometimes just accepting you can’t do the thing without help—and that’s okay.”
But Eva wasn’t all jokes.
One video—quiet and unedited—was simply titled: The morning I couldn’t get out of bed. She stared into the camera, face bare, voice low. “Some days, my body says no. Not in a metaphorical way. I literally cannot move without pain. And that doesn’t make me less valuable. Just human.”
That clip went viral.
In a world that constantly fed disabled people messages like “You can do anything if you try!” Eva’s honesty was radical. She didn’t want pity, but she didn’t want false praise either. She wanted the truth to be okay: that sometimes, you just can’t.
And yet—here she was. Laughing. Filming. Advocating. Connecting.
Not because she could do everything.
But because she didn’t have to in order to matter.