Not What You Meant? There are 3 definitions for Joni.

Joni Eareckson Tada

About 1 pages (397 words)

Know this topic well? Help others and get FREE products!

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

Joni Eareckson Tada (born to John and Lindy Eareckson, Joni Eareckson October 15 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American Christian author, artist, and founder and CEO of Joni and Friends, an "organization accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community". She wrote an autobiography entitled Joni, and appeared in a film of the same name playing herself. She has a daily radio program, also called Joni and Friends, which has over one million listeners each week. Joni broke her neck (fractured the fifth cervical) at the age of 17 in a July 1967 diving accident in the murky waters Chesapeake Bay, which left her a quadriplegic. She was in the hospital for months. At one point she wanted to die. But that changed when she got into art. Unable to use her hands after the accident, she learned how to paint by holding a brush in her mouth. She also learned how to move her arms a little using her back muscles, which, with special equipment in the car, allowed her to learn how to drive.

After two years of full rehabilitation, Joni left the hospital and returned to live back at her home. She moved to California in the late 1970s, where she met Ken Tada, son of Japanese parents, whom she married on July 3, 1982. She met him in a church service. She was bored and decided to pray for a random man in front of her, who turned out to be a man her friend introduced her to at the end of the service. They continue to live in California. On September 19, 2007, Joni made a rare public appearance while speaking at Biola University in Los Angeles, as part of Biola's centennial celebration.