![]() ![]() It was February 24, the same day Russia invaded Ukraine. Based on national defense needs, DLIFLC actively trains over 65 languages to advance the Department of Defense.Īlong with 14 other classmates, Lauren put her mind over matter and submitted her final language exam, qualifying her to be a Russian linguist for the United States Air Force, even when they told her she could not. I’m here to show people that mind over matter does work.”īefore arriving at Goodfellow, Lauren was trained for Airpower over an entire year, developing Russian language skills at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, POM. “I am resilient and have so much more to offer. “I am too stubborn to be pushed down,” she said. But in her less-than-three-month recovery, she has already walked. You will never walk again, you will never be able to move your hands again, you’re always going to be in a wheelchair, they said. I can move my entire body if I tell myself I can.” “I would allow myself to have those sad days, and then be incredibly stubborn the next day. “I would tell myself, ‘if I can move my toes, I can move my whole foot,’” said Lauren. Her resilience, which she jokingly calls stubbornness, powers her to assess, adjust and overcome daily physical and psychological challenges of her new environment. “Anytime I had those bad days where I cried, sobbed, and felt like I was the smallest person, my leg would move the next day.” “I realized the only person who could stop me was me,” said Lauren. Louis VA Healthcare System-Jefferson Barracks, in Missouri, where she continues to exceed all expectations daily. After recovering from a collapsed lung, Lauren was transported to a hospital in San Antonio, where she learned to breathe independently.Īfter maximizing their medical capabilities at the San Antonio hospital, Lauren now rehabs three hours a day, five days a week at the St. Lauren was treated at the intensive care unit in San Angelo. She now has a steel plate cadaver encasing her crushed C6, a bar in the front of her neck from her C3 to T1, and a second bar in the back of her neck from C3 to T2. San Angelo is an outlying city, nearly four hours from the next major city, and has no local spinal cord surgeons. She suffered an interrupted spinal cord injury, meaning her crushed C6 and broken C7 vertebrae required life-saving surgery.īy a mere coincidence, the exact surgeon her injury required happened to be in town during his once-a-month rotating medical schedule. Lauren’s body smashed into the ground as the vehicle flipped an undetermined number of times. Like experiencing an Alice-in-Wonderland moment, the Airman 1st Class could not fathom why her mom and other family members looked down at her so perplexed and “strangely,” she described. Her last memory was 11 days prior when she finished a hike with her friends and climbed into the passenger seat, instinctively buckling her seatbelt. Unable to breathe independently, she had been in a medically induced coma for the past few weeks, not expected to survive. ![]() Her language skills and cognitive ability were unaffected. Frustrating tears rolled down her face when no one explained, and she could not ask: what happened and why was she there?Įventually, the 311th Training Squadron student was told she was in a severe car accident that left all four limbs paralyzed and her neck broken. She realized she could not move anything from her neck downward. Lauren’s ears perked up at the steady rhythmic sound of medical equipment. She was newly arrived at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, from Presidio of Monterey, Calif., for intelligence training her 10th day on-site meant exploring the new area with her friends and hiking the local state park.īleep. Lauren Arduser was a tall, slender Russian linguist with long straight brown hair and a warm smile. ![]()
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