Maryann Williams with staff Maryann Williams is a 20- year-old college student at Cincinnati State. She enjoys spending time with her sisters and going shopping. She’s a popular young lady with several friends and gets along with everyone she meets. She’s also paralyzed from the waist down.

Mary, as her family and friends call her, was in a tragic car accident nine years ago, but that hasn’t stopped her from achieving her dreams. During the first week of May, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center staff and Mary’s family joined her for a special graduation party that honored her success.

Mary’s classmates at Northwest High School graduated last spring but because of frequent hospitalizations, she could not graduate with them. Cathy Patterson, a nurse in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s, said Mary turned her disappointment into determination and worked hard so she could graduate from high school during the same year as her friends. Mary was able to achieve her goal because she enrolled in an online learning program and earned her diploma in August.

“Mary is such a happy and positive young lady,” says Patterson. “Instead of being upset when she found out she couldn’t graduate, she worked even harder to make sure she earned her diploma.”

Diane Jansen, Cincinnati Children’s school teacher, has known Mary since 2002, when she started receiving care at the hospital. Jansen says Mary was always eager to learn.

Whenever Mary had extended stays at the hospital, she would attend the classroom everyday,” says Jansen. “She was a bright student who made good grades.”

Jansen coordinated the graduation party for Mary because she wanted to do something to celebrate the young lady. Jansen explains that she would have held the graduation party last summer but was unable to because of the hospital’s visitor restrictions caused by the H1N1 flu virus. “Even though she’s enrolled in college now we still wanted to hold a party to let her know we’re proud of her,” says Jansen.

During the graduation party, doctors, nurses and teachers shared fond memories of Mary from her younger days at the hospital. Nikki Orkoskey, Division of Child Life at Cincinnati Children’s, says she remembers Mary doing the hospital staff members’ nails.

“She would always have fun painting her nails and ours,” says Nikki. Nikki said she also remembers Mary as a competitive board game player.

Mary’s younger sister, Jasmine, attended the graduation party and she says she loves her older sister. “I enjoy helping my sister out and being there for her when she needs me.” Mary is working on an Associate degree in Communications and after she graduates, she plans to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in the same field. This summer she plans to volunteer at FOXTV 19, where she hopes to learn skills to help her achieve her career goal of being a news anchor.

When asked how she manages to stay encouraged in spite of her disability, Mary responds with a smile, “I know what I want to do in life and I don’t let anything stop me.”