About Me

Angela Rockwood was born in Clovis, New Mexico, but was raised overseas in the Philippines, Spain, and Guam. She is of Thai-German descent and is the oldest of four children. At 15 she returned to the U.S. and attended three different high schools. She graduated in Tampa, FL with two art scholarships, but instead chose to begin a modeling career in Hawaii and New York. As Angela got older, she decided to leave the fashion world behind for a healthier lifestyle as a fitness instructor and entered the world of martial arts. At 22, she made the decision to move to L.A. to finish art school, and worked with two well-known designers: Michelle Bohbot and Bijan. Turning down a job as a composite sketch artist for the LAPD, she accepted a modeling job for designer Michelle of Bisou Bisou, and was back in the entertainment world. At 25, she dipped her toes into acting, filming “The Fast and the Furious,” and later “V.I.P.” in which she played the movie star Lexi Erickson. By this time, Angela’s life was practically perfect: she was engaged to her soul mate and best friend, they were buying a new house, and she was embarking on an acting career. Turmoil struck on September 4, 2001. Angela was en route from San Francisco to Los Angeles with two of her close friends and bridesmaids to be, her 5’9 frame wedged in the back seat of a two-door coupe. When the accident happened, she remembered the car fishtailing violently before it swung around by the force of the impact, and hit the side of the mountain. She was thrown into the back of the driver’s seat, breaking her instantly. The car flipped five times before Angela was thrown out of the window landing 20 feet away. Of the two friends who were with her, one did not survive. The moment I opened my eyes in the hospital after my surgery, I felt as if I was living in a surreal, parallel reality. I had now been transported into the realm of the paralyzed: a C4-5 quadriplegic. The doctors told me I had 3% chance of moving or feeling anything from the neck down. Which I never believed, and never once did I feel I was cursed, or at the receiving end of bad karma. I even had a premonition at 17 that I’d be in a horrible car accident. I’d forgotten about this, and was reminded of it later. The vision was clear, I immediately sensed that I had a mission to fulfill, and that the hope and willpower I felt would guide me to become an advocate for individuals. Today my road to recovery is taking me in different directions. Coming from a martial arts background and with training as a fitness instructor, I’m a firm believer in alternative methods of healing and recovery. Shortly after the accident, I told my husband that the road to recovery would be an ''adventurous'' one, and I loved him too much to make him walk it with me. He refused to leave my side. Today we are a proud spokes-couple for the C.R.F. Angela has picked up her career: she is an ambassador for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation--assisting and helping in the Minority Outreach Campaign, while working as a life coach for Operation Confidence, Quickie, and Fight2Walk. In the meanwhile she has started her own foundation called Walk-On (because no matter what happens in life, Walk-On), producing an exercise video for women in wheelchairs, taking acting classes, and continuing her full-time career of recovery with trainers, acupuncturist, and chi-healers.