Judith Heumann, activist who led US disability rights movement, dies aged 75

‘Trailblazer’ fought for civil rights protections at a time when people with disabilities were treated like second-class citizens

The savvy, wheelchair-using civil rights activist Judith Heumann, who led a movement to reimagine what it means to be disabled in the US, died Saturday at a hospital in Washington DC.

Heumann had been hospitalized for a week dealing with heart issues that may have stemmed from her lifelong challenge with polio, the Associated Press reported. She was 75.