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Smiling in the Face of Adversity: The Paula Hickey Story
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Huffington Post


Huffington Post, May 9, 2016
Posted: October 14th, 2018
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/smiling-in-the-face-of-...

In the short time that Ive gotten to know Paula Hickey, Ive found her to be a revelation. Listening to her bright, cheerful voice and her words of optimism and wisdom, it seems impossible that she is speaking to me from a hospice bed. And I found myself wondering...how is it that a woman facing death seems so much more present, more alive, than many of the healthy, able-bodied people Ive met over the years? While the other kids her age were busy with school, playdates, and after-school sports, Paula was forced to spend her childhood in and out of hospitals. And after a traumatic brain aneurysm burst in her head at age nineteen, Paulas go-to joke became, I need that like I need a hole in my head! Instead of feeling sorry for herself, or self-conscious in front of her classmates, Paula took the remarkable approach of looking at life as a comedy. She was nobodys victim; she was like the star of her own quirky sitcom. And thats what drew people toward her. Paula made it to collegeand when everyone doubted that she would graduate after her brain hemorrhage at age nineteen, which caused her to lose her math skills and regressed her reading level to that of a fifth grader, Paula was resolute in her desire to not be a statistic. I was determined to make something of my life, so I picked myself up and graduated college within three-and-a-half years... Ive never given up. Ive always kicked my own butt.

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