Something good can come out of all the juicy onscreen melodrama of The Bachelor, and we're not just talking about the few healthy relationships it's spawned. Sarah Herron, a veteran of Bachelor season 17 and last summer's Bachelor in Paradise, was inspired to pour everything she had into her nonprofit to empower young women after her experiences on the show.
To refresh your memory: Herron, who was born with AmnioticBand Syndrome and is missing half of her left arm, was the first Bachelor contestant to have a physical disability. When she challenged everyone's favorite villain "Bad" Chad Johnson for his abusive behavior on Bachelor in Paradise, he called her a "one-armed bitch" to her face and "Army McArmenson" in confessionals.
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"I think my fight with Chad was the tipping point for me," she told E! News. "It was one of those heated moments where something inside of me finally just said ‘enough is enough.' I think it was a culmination of being irritated by Chad's remarks and a life-long internal frustration for women of difference that I came home from Paradise and had the fuel to put something into action."
By that point, she had already founded SheLift, which "empowers girls to improve self-acceptance and confidence through outdoor adventures and body-positive mentorship," according to its website. She took advantage of the chance to plug the organization when Johnson apologized to her.
".@realchadjohnson I would love for you to say you're sorry by making a charitable donation to my nonprofit #shelift," she tweeted.
.@realchadjohnson I would love for you to say you're sorry by making a charitable donation to my nonprofit https://t.co/eYI8Hph592 #shelift
— Sarah Herron (@sarahherron) August 3, 2016
Last month, the organization took seven young women with physical differences on a ski retreat with world champion skier Jen Hudak.
Herron wasn't just inspired by The Bachelor, she's also put her TV connections to good use for the organization. Trista Sutter is on the board, and several other Bachelor alums have loaned their support, according to E!. Several have shown off SheLift's empowering and funny T-shirts that say, "Maybe You Literally Can Even."
"[I]f I could offer Sarah from Sean Lowe's season advice today, I'd tell Sarah that love and belonging won't come from prince charming proposing to you on TV, it will only come once she's able to love her true, authentic self," she told E. Something tells us ABC won't be quoting that in its promo material anytime soon.