Her Spirit is no Accident
Nursing doctoral candidate hasn’t let brain
trauma keep her from pursuing education
A
fter two months in a coma, Michelle
Lara woke up in a hospital about 100
miles from her home in Sioux City,
Iowa. She had no memory of the near fatal
motorcycle accident in which she fractured her
skull and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Before the 2009 accident, Lara had been an
emergency room nurse, and she loved caring for
patients. She was heartbroken to have to leave
her job because of the paralysis on her left side
and the damage to her brain’s right temporal
lobe, which can impact memory and speech.
But Lara felt blessed to be alive, and her
injury only temporarily slowed her down before
she discovered Grand Canyon University’s
online nursing programs. Lara got busy, earning
a B.S. in Nursing in 2012 and an M.S. in
Nursing Education last summer. She recently
enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice
degree program.
“I woke up from my coma and said, ‘You
know what? I’m not just going to do nothing,’”
said Lara, 44.
“I told myself I’d use my time more
effectively,” she said. “So I dove into online
schooling. Never once have I sat in bed and
asked, ‘Why me?’”
Lara worked at Mercy Medical Center in
Sioux City for 15 years and at a surgery center
before her accident, so she brought a strong
professional background to her studies. Now
she hopes her doctorate will prepare her to be a
nursing professor.
Before enrolling at GCU, Lara tried online
classes through another university, but she
didn’t feel comfortable with or connected
to the program. She prayed for a solution.
Then, at a MercyMe concert in Sioux City, she
learned about GCU and was awarded a $10,000
scholarship that enabled her to transfer into
the online B.S.N. program.
She connected with GCU enrollment
counselor Kristin Warner, and the two continue
to stay in touch and pray for each other.
“No matter what, she never made excuses
and just did it,” Warner said. “And she can
only type with one hand. She did her entire
B.S.N. and M.S.N. program able to write with
only one hand.”
Today, Lara knows all the details of her
accident and has shared some of them in online
class discussions, which she said has helped
classmates recognize God’s “visible miracle.”
“I lost my memory for a while there, but I got
my accident report and all my medical records,”
Lara said. “It was a stack of paper about 6 to
10 inches thick. Reading through it, I couldn’t
believe I had pulled through.
“I know after reading all that stuff that God
definitely has a plan.”
MICHAEL FERRARESI
WE
❤
HOMECOMING
Homecoming is a time for the University
to welcome back its alumni and show
them some love. How apropos, then,
that Homecoming-Canyon Day falls on
Valentine’s Day 2015.
Start the weekend off right with free
tickets (first-come, first-served) to the
College of Fine Arts and Production’s
performance of Shakespeare’s “Romeo
and Juliet” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13,
in Ethington Theatre.
The next day, the Office of Alumni
Relations is hosting a special Alumni
Sweetheart Reunion to celebrate couples
whomet at GCU. Prominent alumswill be
recognized at the Hall of Fame ceremony,
and visitors are invited to enjoy free
barbecue at a tailgate party, to take in a
basketball (free tickets!) or baseball game
and tour campus (things have changed).
A complete schedule of eventsmay be
found at
GCU
Alumni
2 6 • GCU TODAY
GCU doctoral student Michelle
Lara, whose left sidewas
paralyzed during a 2009
accident, gets around town in
Sioux City, Iowa, on a special
tricycle.
photo by
jerry mennenga
