Beating all of the odds

Six years ago, Rebecca Dowd was driving to Santa Rosa from a weekend in Bodega Bay with her boyfriend, at the time. During the hilly and curvy trek home on the two-laned Highway 1, the steering went out on her sporty Honda CRX.

Dowd drifted across the double lines and managed to guide the car back into the correct lane, but was hit from behind.

Dowd's boyfriend was unhurt and the driver of the other car needed oral surgery.

Dowd lay in a coma for nine days.

When she awoke, she was told she had a week to live because of a major head injury.

The next week Dowd's prognosis improved slightly, but her doctors told her she would be a vegetable for the rest of her life.

"The third week, they told me I would never speak again. Wrong," Dowd said.

Now a 34-year-old business major here at CSUS, Dowd is planning to begin graduate school in January to work towards her M.B.A.

She said she went through nine months of rehabilitation that consisted of speech and motor skills therapy.

Her head injury affected her motor control. She said she had to learn to speak, swallow and breathe all over again.

"It was just like being born again," Dowd said.

She can't balance her body because of her head injuries so she uses an electrical wheelchair to get around.

"The doctors said my recovery was unheard-of," Dowd said. They didn't think I would be able to take classes."

Despite her hardships, she has managed to stay focused on her goal and boasts a 2.5 overall GPA.

A busy full-time student, Dowd enjoys listening to classical music and reading.

She also works with Paul Dickey, a CSUS student who is training to run a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia Society.

Dowd said she works with Dickey to raise money for cancer research because her 78-year-old great-aunt has had the disease since the early 1970s, and undergoes blood transfusions three times a week.

"I don't want others with leukemia to go through the same thing," Dowd said.

Dowd and Dickey met during summer school, where they had three classes together.

Dowd finds corporations who willsponsor Dickey in his efforts. She targets institutions where she knows contacts and feels they will help her.

Currently Dowd has received written financial commitments from The Gap Corporation and the Hyatt Regency. She is planning to contact The Sacramento Bee next.