Emily Potter celebrates with her stepfather, Terry Spencer, mother, Sue Spencer, and Karin Barnes, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy.
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On Jan.1, 2002, life for Emily Potter was looking bleak. The 19-year-old high school honor graduate had just been injured in a car accident that severed her spinal cord. Without the use of her legs, Potter was in an uphill battle to gain back her health and make the most of her life.

Rehabilitation encourages Potter to consider allied health career
During the rehabilitation process, she met physical therapists and occupational therapists who encouraged her to have hope and move on with her life. Those interactions had a profound effect on her, so much so that she decided to become an occupational therapist herself to help others.

Potter selected for student commencement address
On Sunday evening, May 18, Potter graduated with honors from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio with a master’s degree in occupational therapy. She also received a standing ovation as the student commencement speaker, recounting the role allied health professionals played in her recovery.

Choosing to make the best of it
“When I was told that I was paralyzed from the waist down, I had to make a choice. I could let this eat me alive and it would be the end of me, or I could choose to make the best of it. The career path I’ve chosen allows me to use what happened to me to help others,” Potter said in an interview before the ceremony.

During her commencement speech, Potter added, “Looking back, the quality that I appreciated most in the health care professionals that helped me was not whether they had 20 years or two days of experience. Those who had the biggest impact on my life were the ones who treated me as a person. They did not speak to me using all of the fancy words that we all learned in school. Instead, they explained to me in everyday language what I needed to do to build up my strength so that I could learn to be as independent as possible and how they were going to help me achieve this task.”

Potter overcomes additional setbacks
Potter not only had to overcome the initial accident, but much more that might easily have discouraged a less dedicated person from completing a college degree. After two years at Austin Community College earning her prerequisites, Potter entered the Health Science Center in the summer of 2004. However, shortly afterward, she developed a pressure ulcer that required surgery and a six-week recovery. While in the hospital, she developed a staph infection that required more time in the hospital, this time in isolation. Then, she developed a blood clot that required another two months’ stay.

“I lost basically a year of school,” Potter said, noting that the Health Science Center faculty was extremely supportive. “They gave me some class work by e-mail. That was really helpful because it helped me progress some, but it also gave me something to do while I was there, which was really nice,” Potter said.

Potter excelled in clinical studies
Her adviser, Kimberly Vogel, Ed.D., said, “Emily was a great student. She worked very, very hard to earn her degree. She’s also a very positive student and an inherently happy person.

“She also did exceedingly well in her clinical studies,” Dr. Vogel said. “She wanted to be placed at the Memorial Hermann/TIRR, a rehabilitation and research hospital in Houston, which is where she received rehabilitation care after her injury. I think she is able to engage the patients better or more effectively than some able-bodied persons. And women will talk to her more about intimate issues. She will make a tremendous occupational therapist.”

Job awaits her where her rehabilitation began
Even better, she will begin work at Memorial Hermann/TIRR on May 26, coming full circle to return to the place where she received good care when she needed it most. “I have a huge amount of respect for the whole health care profession — and I know that from personal experience,” Potter said. “I’m happy now to be a part of it.”