Close Up
Overcoming adversity to receive degrees
Amy Stewart will cross the stage in the Center for the Arts tomorrow to receive her EdM in education. Photo: DOUGLAS LEVERE
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“I wasn’t supposed to be walking, but I’m walking. So why would I ever complain that something’s hard or something hurts?”
Life changed forever for Amy Stewart on March 7, 2009; for Yi-Chih “Alex” Chen, the life-altering event happened over Thanksgiving break in 2006.
Critically injured in automobile accidents while studying at UB, both Stewart and Chen will receive their diplomas this weekend after years of struggle, hard work and dedication.
Stewart was 22 and a student in the Graduate School of Education when she and a good friend, Rachel Baird, were hit by a SUV as they crossed Main Street near Daemen College. The SUV then left the scene.
Doctors questioned whether Stewart—in a coma for almost two weeks after the accident—would walk again, or even survive. Baird, then 21 and also a student at UB, was in the hospital with a litany of injuries, including liver and kidney damage, and broken bones.
But after two years of hard work and determination, Stewart will receive her diploma at the GSE commencement ceremony on May 13.
Chen, who was paralyzed in an automobile accident in 2006, completed a BS in aerospace engineering in February, and is making a special trip from his home in Taiwan to attend the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ commencement ceremony on May 14.
Chen and two other UB students were driving from UB to New York City for Thanksgiving break when their car flipped over in the middle of I-80 just west of the Delaware Water Gap in eastern Pennsylvania, according to Ellen Dussourd, assistant vice provost and director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services. The driver was uninjured; a student in the back seat was injured, but not seriously. However, Chen, a passenger in the front seat, suffered a fractured neck and was paralyzed from the neck down after being ejected from the car. He underwent surgery in St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Pa., and later was evacuated to Taiwan by private air ambulance.
Kerry Collins-Gross, who has been Chen’s academic advisor since the accident, says he was a sophomore at the time of the accident and completed his UB degree primarily by taking transfer courses at Tamkang University in New Taipei City, Taiwan. He also utilized the SUNY Learning Network to help complete his general education requirements, Collins-Gross says.
He and his family are due to arrive in Buffalo on May 13 and plan to have dinner with Collins-Gross and Dussourd, who visited him twice when he was hospitalized in Pennsylvania.
Only those who were there for the dark days can appreciate how far Stewart has come since that the early-morning, hit-and-run accident in 2009.
She suffered critical brain injuries and was taken to Erie County Medical Center’s trauma unit. When her parents, Robert and Ann Marie, arrived at the hospital, they were told their daughter had a subdural hematoma and was in a coma. She needed seven surgeries to save her life.
It took almost two weeks, but on March 21, Stewart opened her eyes. At that point, she says, the people around her found reason to hope.
But she still had a long road to travel. She required physical, occupational and speech therapy, and needed to learn how to walk again.
After 75 days, she went home to Grand Island to continue her recovery.
“I just felt like these are the cards I was dealt, so I just have to deal with it,” Stewart says. “I’m just so grateful that I’m alive.”
She swam in her pool and rode a stationary bike to strengthen her muscles. After being discharged from physical therapy, she hired a personal trainer at a local health club. Soon, she was able to set aside her walker and use a cane. Now she walks unassisted.
“I wasn’t supposed to be walking, but I’m walking,” Stewart says. “So why would I ever complain that something’s hard or something hurts? It could have been so much worse.”
The news is also good for Baird. A Syracuse native, she will graduate from the GSE in September following the summer tutoring coursework she must complete for her literacy specialist degree. Baird now works as a high school reading teacher.
Stewart’s UB triumph will come first, though. Her six-year road to graduation culminates in the May 13 commencement ceremony.
“I feel good. I’m very excited to be graduating,” Stewart says. “School has been very difficult since my brain injury, but I’ve been able to do it because anything with teaching comes second nature to me.”
The injuries she suffered in the accident forced Stewart to change her major from literacy specialist to childhood education with an emphasis in literacy. She says the analytical coursework required for the literacy specialist degree was too difficult for her to master with her brain injury, and the stress was too great.
But she’s happy with the way things turned out. She’s certified to teach children from birth through grade six, and hopes to find a job working with children with disabilities.
Stewart has returned to her job as a reading aide in the Sweet Home School District, and has made it a priority to visit the classroom where children with disabilities are taught.
“I feel like I have such a connection and such a love for them,” she says of the students. “I just feel connected because at one time, I felt I had a disability but I was able to heal, whereas these students don’t have the opportunity to heal.”
Stewart attributes much of her success to her support systems, both at home and at UB. Jim Collins, professor and interim chair of the Department of Learning and Instruction, couldn’t be prouder.
“Amy will not only graduate with her master’s in education, she has also earned our utmost respect,” Collins says. “In fact, the student organization for learning and instruction in the Graduate School of Education gave Amy an award for courage and perseverance at the annual awards banquet,” he adds.
“We’re inspired by Amy’s tenacity, hard work and dedication.”
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