At a fashion show in Ghana, beneath bright lights and the hum of anticipation, a woman stepped onto the runway with her prosthetic leg wrapped in vibrant kente cloth. The look was striking — bold, elegant, unapologetic. That woman was Abena Christine Jon’el, a 33-year-old Ghanaian-American model and writer whose walk was about far more than fashion.
Abena’s journey began long before that runway moment. At just two years old, she was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. The illness led to the amputation of her right leg — a life-altering reality before she was even old enough to understand it. Raised in Chicago, Abena grew up navigating a world not always designed with disability in mind. But she refused to let her circumstances define her limits.
She learned to move confidently through life on one leg — traveling, building a career, expressing herself through style, and embracing joy wherever she found it. Disability, for her, was never something to hide.
In 2021, Abena traveled to Accra for the first time. What was meant to be a visit became something deeper. The city felt familiar, almost instinctively like home. Within three months, she made a life-changing decision: she moved to Ghana.
There, she made another powerful choice — to wrap her prosthetic leg in kente, a traditional Ghanaian fabric rich with symbolism, heritage, and pride. Kente is often associated with royalty, identity, and celebration. By incorporating it into her prosthetic, Abena fused disability and culture into a single visual statement: both are part of who she is.
So when she walked the stage at Rhythms on the Runway, her presence carried weight. It was about visibility. About access. About occupying spaces where disabled bodies are rarely centered. Her stride challenged quiet assumptions about beauty, ability, and belonging. Through her modeling and writing, Abena continues to expand the narrative around disability. She presents herself not as an inspiration cliché, but as a whole, complex human being — ambitious, stylish, thoughtful, and rooted in heritage. On that runway in Ghana, wrapped in kente and confidence, she wasn’t just modeling clothes. She was modeling possibility.