Angelica “Angel” Carter was a typical happy and healthy teenager on Oct. 10, 2013. The very next day, everything changed.

Carter, a 17-year-old vivacious and self-described “chatterbox” who looked forward to becoming a special education teacher, suffered a devastating stroke that would forever alter her physical abilities and the course of her life. What that stroke couldn’t do, however, was stop her from living her new life to the fullest, and it certainly won’t prevent her from walking across the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center stage to receive her diploma with her fellow graduates Dec. 17.

“I’m terrified but I’m also excited to show what I can do,” wrote Carter in an email interview about graduation and entering the next phase of her life. “A college degree will mean I can live where I want and be independent.”

Graduation will be a significant milestone on Carter’s arduous journey of determination and perseverance. Earning a bachelor’s degree from Viterbo or any other college was unimaginable to Carter or anyone who knew her in the weeks and months after her stroke.

She spent three months in a coma. On four separate occasions, Carter’s father was told by physicians his daughter wouldn’t survive. The doctors had given up any hope of her recovery. She spent time at three different hospitals until finally going to a traumatic brain injury rehabilitation center.

“I honestly don’t know how I survived,” she said. “And after the coma, there was a time when I literally couldn’t do anything by myself. I was in a wheelchair because I couldn’t walk, had a g-tube for eating, had to wear diapers, and I couldn’t communicate at all.”

Fourteen months of grueling physical, occupational, and speech therapy followed. Today, speech is extremely difficult and she uses a Dyna Vox (a device on which she types what she want to communicate and it says the words aloud) and her fine motor skills aren’t what they were before her brain injury. Overall, however, the extent of her recovery has been almost miraculous.

Carter would eventually move in with her mother. Despite being surrounded by loving family members, she fell into a months-long depression. One day a thought occurred to her.

“I wasn’t happy with my life, so I decided to change it,” she said.

Carter enrolled at Viterbo University in 2018. Her speech impediment prevented her from continuing with her goal of becoming a special education teacher, but she could be a high school special education classroom paraprofessional instead. She changed her major to Ethics, Culture, and Society to broaden her employment options.

Jane Eddy, director of Viterbo’s Academic Resource Center, met Carter and her father during first-year student orientation.

“Angel’s dad told me her story and it was evident how very proud he was of her,” said Eddy. “She was the first person in their family to go to college, and that was after everything she had been through.”

Not the least bit timid, Carter immersed herself in university activities. She met with the professors of the classes she was taking to discuss how she could best participate in class using her Dyna Vox (such as getting the discussion questions ahead of time so she could type her answers) and how to accomplish her academic goals.

 “I’m not sure the word ‘can’t’ exists to her,” Eddy said. “Early on, Angel and I met weekly, but she was quickly moving onward and upward. I know she will make a difference in the lives of everyone she touches. She will be an inspiration and a role model. I am very excited to see what the future holds for her.”

Josh Lichty quickly became one of Carter’s favorite faculty members her first semester. Carter was a student in one of his education classes, and he took an immediate interest in getting to know her and learning the best way to for her to communicate with him and the rest of the class. He encouraged her to share her story in the form of a class presentation. He said that first project helped Carter become more comfortable and take charge of her education.

 “Angel is a fighter,” Lichty said. “She is smart, has a great sense of humor, is very kind, and determined. She is going to be very successful in making an impact on her students by helping them find their passion and purpose.”

Carter, 26, said she is “extremely” pleased with the education she received at Viterbo and how faculty and other employees worked with her to accommodate her needs and help with any issues she might have.

 “I’ve gotten the college experience I always wanted but wasn’t sure was possible after my stroke,” she said.