Judy and Marty O’Connor

Judy O'Connor: A Mom Who Went To Every Class With Her Quadriplegic Son

A Mother's love is said to compare to a rare jewel. Why? Because mother's love and support their children during the best of times and the worse of times.

Meet Judy O'Connor, who is a retired elementary school and more importantly, a Mom Who Went To Every Class With Her Quadriplegic Son, Marty.

Mother and son during graduation rites

Judy, attended class with her son Marty, side by side, and has been helping him take notes and hand-write test answers for him for the past 2 years. She would also help him set up his desk, laptop, iPad, phone and voice software to facilitate his assignments at home.

Can you image that Judy did this for two years? Amazing, right? Now that is dedication.

Marty had an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado

Marty, who was not able to perform any tasks,  set a goal for himself to attain a course, Master of Business Administration at Chapman University in Orange, California.

Marty had an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado. He worked as a salesman when he got injured. And the graduate school helped him bring back his focus after that life-changing incident.

Judy, without any hesitations, was very willing to do anything for her son

Judy, without any hesitations, was very willing to do anything for her son to help him reach his dream. She even quit her teaching position and moved out from Florida to California.

According to Judy, you feel so helpless when a family member has a spinal cord injury. And as a mother, you want to come in and fix things. You want to help your kids out. And when your children need you, that's where you need to be.

Judy and Marty's hard work together paid off

Judy and Marty's hard work together paid off when Marty earned his MBA at Chapman University's graduation. Aside from Marty, the school also awarded Judy -- an honorary degree with her fellow students.  Judy on her acceptance speech said that she was just so touched and honored.

Marty: “Through the help of my mom, I was able to do things”.

Marty recalled about what happened in his life; he said that after that accident, he didn’t have a direction in life. And through the help of his mom, he was able to do things. His mom was there every single step of the way.

A very inspiring Mother and Son story. Thank you, guys! Hats off to the both of you.

“That strong mother doesn't tell her cub, Son, stay weak so the wolves can get you. She says, Toughen up, this is reality we are living in.”

 - Lauryn Hill