{"id":3879,"date":"2018-11-16T14:17:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T19:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54.235.7.55\/?post_type=news-items&p=3879"},"modified":"2022-11-05T14:18:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-05T18:18:12","slug":"meet-the-dancers-alexandria-riley-2","status":"publish","type":"news-items","link":"https:\/\/lighthousemi.org\/news-items\/meet-the-dancers-alexandria-riley-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Dancers: Alexandria Riley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite life-altering injury at age 20, Riley continues to reach for the stars<\/em><\/p>\n

When she takes the stage at South Oakland Shelter\u2019s annual gala Saturday night, Alexandria T. Riley will dance \u2013 for a whole host of reasons.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll dance for the enjoyment of guests. She\u2019ll dance for South Oakland Shelter\u2019s efforts to fight homelessness in metro Detroit. And she\u2019ll dance for the satisfaction in knowing she can \u2013 and she did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m terrified,\u201d says Riley, who admits it\u2019s been 20 years since she last took dance classes. \u201cBut it\u2019s for a great cause. Homelessness is such a big problem especially in urban areas like metro Detroit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be part of an event with an organization that is at the forefront of the problem was something I couldn\u2019t pass up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any of the contestants in SOS\u2019s 10th<\/sup>\u00a0annual Dancing with the Detroit Stars will tell you it takes courage, hard work and support \u2013 all of which Riley has relied on for years.<\/p>\n

The Pontiac native is the chief development officer for the City of Pontiac. She\u2019s a writer, a business owner and a passionate community supporter. She\u2019s also an amputee.<\/p>\n

On Saturday night, Riley and her professional dance partner Nick will waltz to Aretha Franklin\u2019s \u201cYou Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman\u201d \u2013 a fitting song for a wonder woman with a prosthetic leg who even ran for mayor last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be paying tribute to the Queen of Soul,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

An unexpected turn<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nothing has come easy for Riley since her life-altering accident 12 years ago.<\/p>\n

She was just 20 years old when life as she knew it came to a halt. Riley was heading back to U-M Flint, where she was studying public policy and business, when her car was forced into the median on I-75 and then flipped four times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hanging out of the sunroof for the first three flips. On the fourth, I was thrown from the vehicle,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

Her ankle was crushed in the wreck. The nerves to her foot were severed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t feel my toes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

With such extensive damage, doctors said her lower leg could not be saved.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a woman you focus on appearance and activeness. I was a tennis player and liked wearing high heels and dresses,\u201d Riley says. \u201cAnd I remember thinking, \u2018What happens now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As she sat for weeks in her hospital bed, struggling to come to terms with the loss of her leg, the medical bills began to mount. Riley had no health insurance at the time, and the costs were staggering. But her family rallied around her, helping whenever and wherever they could.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had $350,000 in medical bills,\u201d Riley said. \u201cMy mom had to scramble to get me a [prosthetic] leg.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says the support she received from family, friends and other amputees played a major role in her path to recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was truly blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Full circle<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dancing with the Detroit Stars will be yet another challenge for Riley, but it\u2019s one she is excited and honored to undertake.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I\u2019ve accomplished has come from buckling down and working hard,\u201d she says. And her upcoming dance performance will be no exception.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that her mother is a former Pistons cheerleader and founded Riley\u2019s Dance Theatre in Pontiac, Riley says dance had never really been her thing. As a youngster she was much more interested in writing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a [young] girl writing for newspapers and working on cable access shows,\u201d she says, adding that she was thankful it all got her out of dance class.<\/p>\n

But practicing for Saturday\u2019s performance has been different for Riley.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s been training at Arthur Murray dance studio in Royal Oak for three weeks and says the experience has been amazing.\u00a0 And when she glides across the stage during the competition, her mom and others will be there cheering her on.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything really has come full circle,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Join us for the 10th<\/sup>\u00a0annual Dancing With the Detroit Stars, Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. Purchase tickets here:\u00a0https:\/\/my.southoaklandshelter.org\/dancing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":3736,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news_categories":[121],"class_list":["post-3879","news-items","type-news-items","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_categories-events"],"acf":{"photo_gallery":{"gallery":[[]]}},"yoast_head":"\nMeet the Dancers: Alexandria Riley - Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lighthousemi.org\/news-items\/meet-the-dancers-alexandria-riley-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the Dancers: Alexandria Riley - Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite life-altering injury at age 20, Riley continues to reach for the stars When she takes the stage at South Oakland Shelter\u2019s annual gala Saturday night, Alexandria T. 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