Great Stories
Montana Campus Corps:
College Students Meeting Critical Community Needs
A Beautiful Face by Shara Sullivan

Throughout the course of my education, I spent two years working in local hospitals completing the clinical portion of the Radiologic Technology program. Over that time, I encountered several instances which profoundly touched me either spiritually or professionally. It is rather diffiult to pick just one person or situation that has had this effect. However, one young woman stands out in my memory. She was about 25 years old. I do not recall her name or exactly what conditions disabled her. I recall her profound beauty and she was physically bound to a wheelchair; she would be for the remainder of her life. She was paralyzed from the waist down. I spent about a half an hour of my day with her completing her x-ray exams. While the physical aspects of her being are easy to describe, that is not what I remember most. I remember being almost in tears while I completed her exam. She was one of the most positive individuals I have ever met. X-ray positioning requires somewhat of an art at times, and most able bodied people cannot always manipulate their bodies into the required positioning needed for some exams. Despite her inabilities to physically move her body about, she happily did what I asked her to and with a smile on her face. It took us a little longer, but she would just keep trudging along. I talked with her a bit and learned she was married and had a young son. I thought of my own married life and my own three children. I thought how life seemed so hard for me at times. I felt extremely guilty for those thoughts. I completed this young women's exam and my day continued on, but it wasn't the same. I was humbled and more grateful than I had been in days. I felt a sense of rejuvination in life. One day of this women's life was 10 times more difficult than 100 of my own days. She took each step in stride and I was motivated by her entire being. While my job that day was to help her in her medical condition,she helped me more than I could have ever done for her.

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