Student is undaunted by obstacles
Diagnosed with spina bifida, Sarah Williford got her first wheelchair when she was 2. But that doesn't slow her down. In life, she's going as fast as her wheels will take her.
The Greenbrier High School freshman is active on the Warren Baptist Church basketball team and plays tennis. But her teachers are most impressed with how she's handled the physical challenges of her health-care technology science class.
"As a nurse, I'm sensitive to her special needs, but she's never asked for anything special," Sarah's teacher Kim Pippin said. "She's just a normal kid, except for the fact she's in a wheelchair, and she doesn't let that stop her much."
Sarah Williford was born with spina bifida but still takes part in cardiopulmonary
resuscitation training in her health occupation class at Greenbrier High School.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Currently, the class is learning how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Pippin said she was concerned at first that Sarah would not be able to physically do the exercise because the students have to kneel on the floor and use their upper body strength for compressions.
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"I've had to work it out somehow," said Sarah, the daughter of Stan and Katy Williford of Grovetown. "I can get on the floor and do the same things the same way."
Her biggest challenge, she said, is just remembering the proper steps.
When she graduates, Sarah said she would like to attend Augusta State University and become a pharmacist, "to help people."
Pippen said she is confident Sarah will succeed.
"Whatever she wants to do, she can do it," Pippen said.