Chick-fil-A Worker With 200 Broken Bones Inspires McCalla

Between orders and totals at a McCalla, Alabama Chick-fil-A, Wilma Brown is making people's days better, one smile at a time. And she's doing it all from her wheelchair, with a joy that's impossible to miss.

Wilma has osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease. She's never walked and has suffered around 200 broken bones throughout her life.

But when manager Brian Schubert interviewed her, he saw something beyond her wheelchair. "She has the capability and she's a workhorse too," he said, offering her the job on the spot.

Wilma's childhood was anything but easy. She moved between foster homes in Bessemer, Fairfield, and Midfield, never attending school as a child. Her parents struggled, and she learned to stay small and out of the way.

When both her parents died in a car accident when Wilma was 17, her sisters asked her something nobody ever had: What do you want out of life? For the first time, Wilma let herself dream.

In her 20s, she learned to read and earned her GED. Then she kept going, eventually buying her own home and landing this job that she loves.

Now she works the 9 to 2 shift, greeting customers by name when she can, offering kindness to everyone who comes through. "You never know what someone's going through," Wilma says. "If I can be a friendly smile, a kind face, and I can remember your name and that made your day, that makes my day."

Sunny's Take

Customers come to this Chick-fil-A specifically to see Wilma. Her coworkers say when they know she's working, they know it'll be a good day. She prays with people who are hurting, hugs those who are sad, and shares her testimony freely.

After each shift, she transfers herself into her car, drives home to the house she owns, and reflects on a life that refused to be limited. "I know the Lord has been carrying me my whole life," she says.

Wilma proves that independence isn't loud or flashy. It's showing up for your shift, doing hard work, and choosing joy even when life has given you every reason not to.

In a world obsessed with what's broken, Wilma Brown knows broken well, but she just refuses to let it total her life.