In recognition of Disability Awareness Month, we spoke with Belinda May, co-chair of our Disability/Accessibility Affinity Group and a partner on the Global Compliance and Investigations team. Belinda shared her personal journey with a life-threatening condition and highlighted the ongoing efforts Dentons is making to foster a more inclusive and accessible workplace.

1. Please introduce yourself.

My name is Belinda May, and I am co-chair of the Disability/Accessibility Affinity Group (DAAG) and a partner at Dentons. 

I was diagnosed with a rare and life-threatening disease in 2019, at the top of my career. It is called severe adrenal insufficiency or Addison’s disease (A/I), and there is no cure. Having A/I means that your body does not produce cortisol, which is required to stay alive. For an even tinier percentage of us, the medicine that saves our lives also threatens it.   

Between the disease itself, which has a constant low–blood pressure crash risk, and the medication side effects, this has entailed multiple surgeries, severe skin damage and formal wound care, pre-cancerous skin conditions, blood ulcers, joint dislocations or soft tissue tears, and some days, being unable to move. The following link provides a helpful summary. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/addisons-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350293 

2. How have you learned to navigate the work environment with your disability?

With gratitude for my CEO and her leadership team, our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leadership and the friends and colleagues who helped me realize over time that it was time to stand down in my former role, I am forever grateful. And it didn’t happen overnight. Nope. This was a process of change, frustration, adjustments, empathy and kindness.

It took me a long, long, long time to accept that I would never again be able to work big cases or 15- to 18-hour days. Oh sure, I tried. Naivety? Denial? Absolutely. In other words, for years, even after diagnosis, and with these horrible medical impacts continuing to happen, I just kept pressing on—and my disease pressed right back, but harder.

Thank you with my deepest appreciation to the huge hearts at Dentons, including my DAAG co-chairs, members, allies and friends. You know who you are.

3. What are your academic strengths?

I was flummoxed by this question, at first. Then it occurred to me: I don’t think in terms of academic strengths. Sure, there has to be hard work and dedication, ethics, perseverance and the like. But the root of it all is passion, curiosity and compassion. That’s what drives everything I study or explore. In fact, I hope they drive everything I do.

4. Why do you feel it’s important to share your story with others?

Hands down, this is the easiest answer of the bunch: So that storytelling continues to become normalized and part of our shared, intersectional experiences, daily, in celebrating our identities in our human space suits (common humanity).

I think some background context might be helpful here, especially if we are just learning about a disability or condition for ourselves or a loved one.

I’d always had low blood pressure and episodes of losing consciousness since my 20s, but no one was able to “catch it” on labs until 2019, as the disease progressed. And even then, I didn’t “get it.” I was pretty unaware back then. It is embarrassing to share this next bit, although it does reveal how asleep we can be in tending to our own self-compassion or self-care. I hope it helps others.

In February 2019, my endocrinologist called my cell phone moments before I was getting ready to address a crowd of about 1,000 people at a convention, and he told me to get to the nearest emergency room immediately. My response: “Well, is there a Plan B?”  

Ugh, right? My motives were well-intentioned at my “then-conscious” level, namely, fulfilling my responsibilities. However, my awareness for what this disease can and does do to turn lives upside down—or end them—was ZERO. We must take compassionate action toward ourselves and others. 

This is why the Dentons Disability/Accessibility Affinity Group has been a life-changer for me and many more—even those who are not members of the Affinity Group themselves.

5. What is one thing you wish everyone understood about disability awareness?

Disabilities don’t discriminate. Only people do. Disabilities bind us in common humanity and intersectionality because disabilities impact everyone, one way or another. Disabilities don’t care what gender, color or sexual orientation we may be, or any other critically important aspect of how we choose to identify. They show no mercy in who they impact, so we’d best do all that we can, every day, to stand one another up, to practice kindness and to embrace the opportunity to be an ally. My favorite quote is from the great Robin Williams: “You never know what another person is going through. Be kind always.”

6. Tell us about Dentons’ Disability/Accessibility Affinity Group. What does it mean to you?

In a nutshell, everything. The gifts received from launching and co-leading DAAG these last years cannot be adequately captured with words. My DAAG colleagues are among the most cherished people in my life. I can only hope that they have experienced safety, inclusion, being empowered by inner confidence, and yes, I’ll say it again: compassion. 

I will also share that on far more days than I can count, DAAG was a respite from the despair of confusion, disability symptoms and learning to embrace a new identity. DAAG friends have been my beacon on the dark, mushy days when it was hard to see hope with an ever-changing “whack-a-mole” disease.

Thank you to my co-chairs, Katie Krutzsch and Max Carr-Howard. We will always be our “trio.”

About Dentons

Across over 80 countries, Dentons helps you grow, protect, operate and finance your organization by providing uniquely global and deeply local legal solutions. Polycentric, purpose-driven and committed to inclusion, diversity, equity and sustainability, we focus on what matters most to you. www.dentons.com