Dominick Evans was born on December 26, 1980 in Toledo, Ohio. Born with a progressive muscle disease known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (Dominick has Type Three also known as Kugelberg Welander), he was diagnosed at the age of four. When Dominick was two years old, his grandmother, Melba, noticed that he threw out his leg when he walked. Upon diagnosis, it became clear that Dominick was born without a left hip socket.

Having spent nearly a year in a hip abduction sling and other devices that formed the new hip socket, Dominick came out of it unable to climb steps. He had to crawl up them. This finally led to a new diagnosis of SMA after a muscle biopsy performed by Dr Edward Orecchio and others from the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) Clinic of Toledo. Dominick spent his childhood in dance, swimming and other activities to try and improve his strength and limit muscle degeneration.

Dominick served as the MDA Poster Child/Goodwill Ambassador for Northwest Ohio in 1990 and 1991 and for the state of Ohio in 1992 and 1993. He started taking voice lessons from former Toledo Radio Personality, Lola Smith in 1990 and acting through the Franciscan Life Center in 1991. He also became actively involved in public speaking. Over the years, as a representative of the MDA, Dominick gave hundreds of speeches to audiences ranging from adult business owners to teenagers in high school. This has given him the skills to be a confident, self-assured public speaker.

Throughout his pre-teen and early teen years, Dominick continued to take acting lessons. He also took voice from various teachers in the Northwest Ohio area including Lance Ashmore, who introduced Dominick to classical and operatic singing, Allison Dolan and Tia Olsen. At age 15, Dominick had to put all of that on hold. In his sophomore year of high school, he had lifesaving spinal fusion surgery. Though he had many complications from his surgery and almost died (due to E coli bacteria getting into a wound that opened up in his lower back) he credits his survival to Dr. Richard Munk, a pediatric orthopedic doctor from Toledo, who Dominick had seen through the MDA Clinic.

Though his recovery was tough, Dominick fought back, continuing to sing, despite having tubes scrape his vocal cords after surgery, until he was eventually able to surpass his vocal skills prior to his surgery. Dominick even ended up sharing the lead role of the Narrator, in his senior year performance of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Lake High School. Dominick also managed to pull his grade point average up enough after missing five months of school for surgery. In 1999, he graduated with a 3.9 GPA, a place in the LHS National Honor Society, and completed courses from Bowling Green State University, which he attended part of the time during his senior year as a post secondary option student.

BGSU was the haven that Dominick sought. While he had spent all of his life dealing with his disability, it had overshadowed other pressing issues. Dominick knew from an early age that he was attracted to females. Peer pressure, the beliefs of those at the Catholic Church he attended, and fear of violence prevented Dominick from coming out in high school. Dominick never felt he was a lesbian. The word just didn’t fit him. He didn’t know any other word for what he was though, so he lived with the illusion that he must be a lesbian.

In 1999, Dominick got his first job. He also attended BGSU for his freshman year of college. He was majoring in acting and had many friends who didn’t judge him for who he was. BGSU wasn’t a friendly place though. Dominick faced many physical barriers, eventually fighting the school and speaking out to the press about the lack of wheelchair accessibility. In the end, he would have to move home, into a dysfunctional environment he’d spent 19 years trying to escape. He commuted to college for the rest of the year, consistently fighting the urge to commit suicide due to his current plight.

The year 2000 gave new hope to Dominick. A spring visit to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio proved to be promising. Dominick found the school extremely accessible. Better yet, he’d be three hours away from home. With renewed hope, he found a way to get through the summer before heading to college and a new life. Unfortunately, the talented, intelligent Dominick had more hurdles ahead of him then he could anticipate.

Dominick found BGSU to be an incredibly welcoming, artistic environment. While he found innovative ways to perform from a wholly confining wheelchair, his teachers praised him for his skill. His Acting I teacher commented at how skilled Dominick was at expressing emotions with his face, his eyes, and his voice. The professor even remarked that Dominick had found a way to get past the limitations of his body to show how powerful an actor he could be.

Wright State wasn’t so welcoming. He found many of the teachers to be cold towards him. He found it hard to audition and felt self-conscious about his wheelchair. Some of the teachers wouldn’t give him the time of day and some of the administrators talked down to him, like he was mentally incompetent. Those who didn’t see him for his wheelchair worked with him wholeheartedly. One of those teachers was his talented vocal teacher, Lee Merrill. Confused, alone, and hurting over the entire experience, and still somewhat influenced by his dysfunctional family, Dominick looked to Merrill as more than just a teacher, but a confidante and a second mother. Though she may not have realized it, Dominick had needed someone to talk to and someone to praise his talent. She had given him both.

After Dominick’s audition for the Musical Theatre program at WSU, he wasn’t surprised to receive a “you didn’t make it” letter. What was odd was the phone calls his parents received from the chair of the department, just to ‘let them know’ Dominick’s rejection wasn’t because of his wheelchair. Since that issue had never been brought up by Dominick, he had to wonder why it would be brought up by the department. Needless to say, he moved on at WSU with a major in theatre and a minor in political science.

At WSU, Dominick did have the opportunity to sing, through his lessons. He performed as the main Dr. in a play about AIDS, “The Normal Heart”. He also got the chance to stay at WSU over the winter break to film a role in the movie, The Making Of…. Despite his limitations and the obstacles against him, Dominick tried to pour himself into his studies, but then, tragedy struck. Though not close with his father Dave, in March of 2001, Dave suffered the first of four heart attacks. This put Dominick in a precarious position in which he spent time between school and home. In the two months before his father died, they made their peace with one another and Dominick took his death in May 2001 quite hard. The last time he saw his father, he was heading off to sing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ at the opening day festivities at the world famous theme park, Cedar Point.

Struggling with his father’s death for the next year, Dominick had trouble in school and in life. Eventually, he started dating his longtime friend, Ashtyn. On Thanksgiving, she brought their son, who had just turned 8, down for Thanksgiving. By Dominick’s birthday that year, both of them had moved into Dominick’s apartment. This family, created in 2002, still exists today. Around the same time, Dominick saw a documentary entitled, Southern Comfort. This was about a transgendered man named Robert. For Dominick, everything clicked together. He finally had a word for what he was.

Dominick didn’t have much time to understand what transgenderism was. His search to discover himself was halted when he fell during a transfer into his wheelchair. He ended up fracturing his tibia and was forced to leave college. He moved home to Michigan with Ashtyn and their son. They remain there today. Unable to get out of bed for over a year, Dominick found a way to work online. Ashtyn became his business partner and the two formed a successful writing company, Dominash Studios.

Today, Dominick is a successful writer, movie and product reviewer, and part-time musician. He is in the process of legally becoming a male. He’s had some surgery though he plans to have every surgery he can to become the man he always has been. The Evans live with their now 13 year old son, a disgruntled shih-tzu named Oliver Twist, and Ashtyn’s mother who helps them out due to their hectic schedule.

The Evans homeschool their son, who has just completed seventh grade. They are believers and followers of the ancient Hellenic religion (Hellenismos). Dominick is also trying to get back into singing and public speaking. If you’re interested in having him speak for an event or meeting, please contact him. Dominick loves sports, video games, and watching movies and television. Despite being an extraordinary human being, Dominick truly is just your average guy.