GAFFNEY, SC – Roddrick Brown’s smile lit up his cousin’s living room. With just five days to go before graduation from Limestone University, he and his mother, Odessa Farr, were excited. Your first goal? To find a job and save to open a youth center.
“That’s the goal of why I went to school,” said Brown, 27.
You would never have imagined, with the unshakable confidence in his voice, that there was a time when no one would think he would make it this far.
In 2005, at the age of 11, Brown was hit by a car on Wofford Street in Spartanburg when he lost a stop sign while riding a bicycle, suffering multiple brain injuries. For two weeks, he was in a coma. He then woke up with memory loss and permanent paralysis on the left side of the body.
“It was a challenge because, as a mother, I didn’t want him to leave my sight. I didn’t want him to go anywhere. They wanted me to put him in McCarthy Teszler, but from the moment he arrived at the hospital in When he got home, he started to remember more and do more, so I didn’t want to put him in that kind of environment, ”said Farr.
Farr believed in his son’s ability to overcome injuries and return to a regular classroom. She took Brown’s test at the Spartanburg School District Two office and was determined that he could return with an aide, who helped him daily until 11th grade.
“He went from a wheelchair to a walker and then started using a one-armed cane. He used a walker when he graduated,” said Farr. “When he crossed the stage, they set off fireworks for him.”
Brown then went to Greenville Technical College, where he studied business, and then transferred to Limestone University, where he majored in business administration and human resources twice.
Brown worked his way through college and faced financial challenges and challenges due to the lack of accessibility. For example, Brown had to give up temporarily during the first semester of college because he did not have a wheelchair and was unable to walk from his dorm to class on time. He managed to re-enroll because Shriners Hospital was able to provide one for him.
“What really kept me going was that I didn’t want to leave something that I started, that’s great. I wanted to graduate; I know there are opportunities for me,” said Brown.
He has also been very active on both campuses, working as a study worker in various administrative offices and advocating for improved accessibility for students with disabilities, such as installing door openers in buildings that did not have them.
“He never let any of the obstacles he faced interfere in achieving his goals. He never made excuses or asked for special treatment; instead, he struggled not only to complete all tasks, but to excel at them,” said his teacher. Tonya Adair.
This determination has seen him through his own and other people’s doubts at every step. Brown obtained his driver’s license, completed high school and majored in Business Administration and Human Resources, and trusts God and himself for all his successes. Being positive is the key, he said.
“There was a time when I was depressed and I asked God, ‘Why? I didn’t do anything to deserve this,'” said Brown. “But as I grew up, I built a relationship with God and I had faith and I worked hard. Once you’ve got it in your head that you can do this, and you wake up every day with a great mood that you’re going to do that and you’re going to do it any way you want, the only thing that can stop you is yourself. “
After graduation, Brown hopes to find a job to pay off his college debts so he can earn his diploma, get some hands-on experience, and then save up to fulfill his dream of opening a youth center. He plans to open it in Spartanburg for low-income families.
“I just like children. I wanted to make it for people who don’t have many opportunities to try to help and make things better, to make it a little easier for people,” said Brown.