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SALT LAKE CITY — This week KSL and Les Schwab are honoring a woman who spends her days helping people with disabilities and her nights caring for family members.
Full of life from the second you meet her, Melanie Bike spends her time caring for others when she uses a wheelchair herself.
"We were camping and there was a storm," Melanie said. "Four trees blew down on the tent where I was with my sister and two others. My sister was killed and I broke my neck."
After the loss of her sister and a grim prognosis that she would be confined to a wheelchair, Melanie still decided to meet life head-on.
"I went to my junior prom from the hospital," she said.
Jennifer Ellsworth nominated Melanie for a High 5.
"The thing I love about Melanie is she has this incredible wit and humor about her. I mean, she will find the humor in any situation. She's incredible," she said.
Melanie spends her days working for the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation helping people with disabilities find jobs. After work she cares for family members, like her 80-year-old grandfather, Ralph Coon, who recently suffered a stroke.
She definitely has been a role model to all of us, to have that split between work and family and make it all work the way she does.
–Jolene Wyler
"She has been in this chair for a long time," he said, "and she never said, 'Why me?'"
Sharon Cook, at Utah State Office of Rehabilitation, said, "We wouldn't even think about Melanie as having a disability. Yes, she utilizes a wheelchair, but she is one of the most intelligent and feistiest and most rewarding colleagues we can have."
Another co-worker, Jolene Wyler, said, "She definitely has been a role model to all of us, to have that split between work and family and make it all work the way she does."
Jason Ellsworth said, "You hear about these motivational stories about people that overcome paralysis to go win a gold medal and she has kind of done that. To take care of people and help other people, that's pretty neat."
Melanie told KSL, "I have the best family in the whole wide world. They take care of me, so I do the same for them."
If you'd like to nominate someone for a High 5, click here.
