William Palmer, BIE 2003

As hundreds of proud parents cheered on their graduates at Spring Commencement, few had more pride than the family of William Palmer, BIE 2003. Palmer enrolled at Tech in fall quarter 1994. A fifth-year co-op student in the spring of 1999, he was just finishing up his degree when he was involved in an auto accident that left him with severe brain injuries and in a coma. After he had been in the coma one month, doctors told his parents he had only a five percent chance of surviving. Then, after the fifth week, Palmer woke up.

Recovery wasn't easy; Palmer had to learn to walk again after spending so much time in the coma and had lost much of his short-term memory. But by the fall, he had re-enrolled at Tech and was on his way to finishing his degree. "It was rough going back to school," he said. "But I was determined to make it."

Just a few short weeks after he returned to Tech, Palmer developed a severe headache. Knowing this could be a sign of something serious, he began driving to Piedmont Hospital.

"I remember driving there and then everything cut out, like nothing," said Palmer. "I hit a pole and a building. I remember walking out of the car and sitting on the curb."

Palmer had suffered a brain hemorrhage and was taken to Grady Hospital. While at Grady, a drainage tube ripped a hole in his stomach, which was discovered only after he was transferred to a hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He developed Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterial infection that is resistant to antibiotics. His heart rate hovered above 170 beats per minute and he had a fever of 105.9 degrees Fahrenheit. He was an hour away from death when the doctors found and treated the infection.

As a result of his two brain injuries, Palmer's left side is slightly paralyzed and he has to use a motorized wheelchair to get around. His physical therapist doesn't believe he will ever walk again, which means Medicare will not pay for his therapy, but Palmer isn't giving up. He's doing his own brand of physical therapy in the gym. He points out that after both accidents his doctors didn't think he would live. Once he survived, they told him he would never graduate from college. He has proven them wrong three times, and he aims to do it again. He may seem stubborn, but that's all right with him.

"My ex-girlfriend told me 'I know you'll walk again because you're so stubborn.' I said, 'You mean determined.' And she said, 'No, I mean you're stubborn.' But that's okay. Not only am I going to walk again, I'm going to run again," said Palmer.



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