Education student will graduate despite traumatic accident - 06/11/03

COLUMBUS – In 1997, a patch of black ice changed Matt Schroeder’s future forever.

The outstanding student athlete at Putnam County’s Columbus Grove High School was was seriously injured on his way to work at a local pizzeria when his car spun on ice and crashed into a pole. The transformer broke from the pole, hit the roof of the car, and landed on Schroeder, causing massive head and spinal injuries. Schroeder was in a coma for nearly three months Doctors told Schroeder, who before the accident had planned to become a mechanical engineer after taking an Internet calculus course from Ohio State, that his injuries were so severe that he would probably spend the rest of his life in a nursing home. “I couldn’t eat, drink, walk or talk,” says Schroeder. “It would have been a good time to pack it in, but that’s not how you do things.”

True to his word, on Friday (6/13) Schroeder will graduate from Ohio State with a B.S. in Education.

Schroeder will be one of more than 5,000 graduates seated in Ohio Stadium to hear Christopher Reeve, an actor and disability activist who has worked to put a human face on spinal cord injury following the accident that left him a quadriplegic.

After his injury, Schroeder spent eight weeks in rehabilitation at Dodd Hall, part of The Ohio State University Medical Center. Dodd Hall is recognized as one of the nation’s top 10 rehabilitation facilities for treatment of patients with spinal cord injury, brain injury and stroke.

Despite massive head injuries, Schroeder was determined to attend college. When he began classes at Ohio State’s Lima campus in 1998, he was in a wheelchair and had to relearn most academic and motor skills that were lost due to the brain injury.

He progressed from a wheelchair to a walker, then to a cane, and now can walk with no assistance at all.

“I was a part-time student for the first three quarters, but I’ve carried a full course load every quarter since then, except for one summer,” says Schroeder. “I just kept working toward my goal and degree.” He has also developed a presentation for area high school students about his situation and how one can overcome great obstacles.

Schroeder plans to teach junior high school math or science in the Putnam County area.

“When I was in junior high, my teachers made a huge difference in my life,” says Schroeder. “I want to do the same and change the life of a young person.”

Teachers are required to have a master’s degree, and Schroeder will begin his M.Ed. degree at Ohio State-Lima this summer.

“People might tell you that you can’t do something, but it’s hogwash,” he said. “No one knows what a person is capable of. I’m an example of that.”