OlaRose Ndubuisi is an award-winning 17-year-old author, artist, and activist. She is grateful to be the 2024 New York State Youth Poet Laureate and a 2024 Prudential Emerging Visionary. OlaRose enjoys art, composing music, tennis, filmmaking and photography, video games, and spending time with her family. She especially loves writing. OlaRose has 6 published books – 2 books of poetry, a children’s book trilogy, and she illustrated a children’s book as well.
You can find OlaRose’s writing, art, and music on her Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @olaroseofficial.
Click here to learn more about OlaRose’s books and writing.
Click here to learn more about OlaRose’s art.
OlaRose Ndubuisi was born extremely premature at one pound birth weight (weighed 470 grams or 16 ounces). OlaRose thought surviving prematurity would be the toughest thing she would experience in life, but she was wrong. OlaRose was diagnosed with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) unexpectedly at the age of 14, as she graduated middle school (8th grade). AIS is the most common type of scoliosis, with an overall prevalence of 0.47 to 5.2% in the population. It is more common in girls than boys. OlaRose was not born with scoliosis. She developed it from a growth spurt.
OlaRose initially felt alone in her experience, and suffered significant emotions and 24/7 pain due to her scoliosis. However, as OlaRose researched her diagnosis and connected with other people who have scoliosis, she felt less alone. “Through my writing, art, and music, I was able to turn my pain into something beautiful and relatable,” OlaRose says.
OlaRose underwent scoliosis surgery on January 9, 2023. Due to unfortunate surgical complications, she is now in worse pain than before the surgery. She was wheel-chair bound for 5 months after surgery and suffered prolonged symptoms. However, OlaRose has persevered and her passion for raising awareness for scoliosis has only strengthened.
OlaRose is thankful for the loving support of her family, friends, teachers, and medical professionals along her journey with scoliosis. She is grateful for how much she has grown due to her experience. OlaRose says this about FiSK: “Through Finding Scoliosis Kindly (FiSK), I want to empower other kids with scoliosis and share what I have learned, so they feel less alone and know how to positively manage their pain.”
Click here to learn about scoliosis.
Click here to learn more about the FiSK Project.
Click here to learn more about OlaRose’s story of prematurity and the ObiolaRose Twin Angels Foundation — a non-profit organization that supports parents of premature and sick infants, and helps NICUs in need.