Jewells began playing basketball at the age of seven. In 2003, at the age of fourteen, she was severely injured in a car accident, breaking several ribs and her T12-L1 vertebrae, forcing her to spend close to two years in the hospital. Her occupational therapist suggested to her wheelchair basketball to help her recovery.[1] She had to take some time off from 2007 to 2009 due to health and school, and didn't return until 2010. When she did come back, she ended up withdrawing from the Marconi Campus of Nova Scotia Community College in Sydney, so she could focus on her training.
Jewells is married to Adam Lancia, a member of the Canadian men's wheelchair basketball team. They met in Saskatoon in 2009, and started dating in 2011 when she was living and playing in Germany and he was in Spain. They were married in Port Morien in 2013. They have a daughter.[5] The family relocated to Toronto for two years to prepare for the 2016 Rio Paralympics.[6] The Canadians failed to win a medal after they were knocked out at the quarter final stage by the Dutch women, who had won bronze in London. A devastated Jewells poured out her heart in a Facebook post. "I am absolutely heartbroken for this team," she wrote, "I feel like we deserved a much better fate. We poured our hearts and souls into training and game play, and unfortunately today we came up short. What it is to put four years of your life into one thing to lose it all in a day. I can't even describe how that feels."[7] The Canadian women went on to defeat China to take fifth place. A photograph taken by Reuters photographer Ueslei Marcelino of Jewells receiving a kiss from her husband after that game went viral.[8][9]
She announced her retirement from the national team in February 2017. She played for the University of Alabama in the United States, where Lancia was her coach.[6]
