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Judy Heumann, champion for disability rights, dies at age 75
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 20: (L-R) Dawn Dickson, Mona Scott-Young, Wendy Diamond, Judy Heumann, Mitzi Perdue, Nadja Swarovski and Coco Rocha attend the 2022 Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization Summit at United Nations on May 20, 2022 in New Yor Judy Heumann, a renowned activist who helped secure legislation protecting the rights of disabled people, has died at age 75.News of her death Saturday in Washington, D.C., was posted on her website and social media accounts and confirmed by her youngest brother, Rick Heumann.He said she had been in the hospital a week and had heart issues that may have been the result of something known as post-polio syndrome, related to a childhood infection that was so severe that she spent several months in an iron lung and lost her ability to walk at age 2.She spent the rest of her life fighting, first to get access for herself and then for others, her brother recalled.Javeno McLean talks with FOX Television Stations about why it's important to give back."It wasn’t about glory for my sister or anything like that at all. It was always about how could she make things better for other people," he said, adding that the family drew solace from the tributes that poured in on Twitter from dignitaries and past presidents like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.RELATED: Study: NFL players who experience concussions may exhibit cognitive failure later in lifeHeumann has been called the "mother of the disability rights movement" for her longtime advocacy on behalf of disabled people through protests and legal action, her website says.She lobbied for legislation that eventually led to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act.