Lester Davis
Coming from a place of positivity
Lester Davis suffered a life-changing spinal cord injury when he was shot on a Southwest Philadelphia basketball court at the age of 14. “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” says Lester. But he hasn’t let this turn of events shake his faith or his positive outlook on life.
After his injury, Lester became a wheelchair user. He’d have to wait outside his mother’s inaccessible, two-story walk-up house for someone—anyone—to come by and carry him up or down the stairs. “After school, I’d literally wait outside the building, sometimes for hours,” he recalls.
All that changed when at age 18, Lester moved to a wheelchair accessible apartment at Inglis Gardens at Eastwick. “I like to do things for myself,” he says. “It was such a relief to be able to move around freely and not have to depend on anyone.” Now 32, Lester is a licensed insurance agent who helps older adults learn about and select Medicare supplemental insurance. He works full time from his home. “I know that true happiness and true success is not measured by what you have but by who you are,” he says. “I’ve had some difficult times, but I cope with them by remembering that I’ve always gotten through them. I am happy for what I do have.” “I know that true happiness and true success is not measured by what you have but by who you are,” he says.