Photo courtesy of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation (credit Marco Calderon)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Motivational speaker, social media star and disability advocate Tilly Lockey, who lost her hands at 15 months old due to a severe strain of meningococcal septicemia, shared her inspirational message of perseverance to a crowd of 200 people at Good Shepherd’s annual Boundless Speaker Series on June 3.

Now at age 20, Lockey is a global advocate for technological advancements in bionic prosthetics and has been featured in Rolling Stone, Yahoo! News, BBC News, Wired, Inside Edition and more.

Good Shepherd held the keynote address on its South Allentown Campus, 850 S. 5th St. Host and former WFMZ anchor/reporter Melanie Falcon served as the event’s guest emcee and conducted an audience Q&A session with Lockey.

In her keynote, Lockey shared how technology can change the lives of people with disabilities in a variety of ways. In her case, bionic prosthetic arms led to a world of difference. As a young child and still grappling with how meningitis took her hands, Lockey began traveling around the globe to share her story of inspiration.

“[Technology is] giving people limbs back, sight back, the ability to walk again,” Lockey said. “Could we get carried away if this tech is in the wrong hands? Yes. But the way I think we avoid that is by keeping it with ethical root, consulting people who live differently and have genuine needs. Helping people, changing lives, being innovative. And lucky for us, we have the power.”

This is the fourth year of Good Shepherd’s Boundless Speaker Series. In 2025, Jillian Mercado visited Allentown. Chris Norton appeared in 2024. In 2023, Zion Clark spoke.

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation, an independent, not-for-profit rehabilitation network with more than 60 locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is committed to transforming the lives of people of all ages and abilities through curiosity, creativity, expertise and innovation. Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Good Shepherd specializes in treatment of spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, major multi-trauma, pulmonary disease, respiratory failure, musculoskeletal/orthopedics and complex pediatric conditions. Good Shepherd also partners with Penn Medicine to provide rehabilitation and specialty services in the greater Philadelphia area and New Jersey through GSPP Rehabilitation. Info: www.goodshepherdrehab.org

 

Information provided to TVL by:
Mike Walbert