A Tech summer grad who defied the odds

A Tri-County Tech student will collect her diploma this week, just one year after suffering a stroke.  Benita Chester is looking forward to walking across the stage Thursday to receive her Licensed Practical Nuring (LPN) degree at summer commencement.  On June 26, 2022, while stopped in Anderson traffic on the way to visit her mother in a nursing home, 38-year old Chester began to have difficulty breathing and experienced complete left side numbness.  She stayed in AnMed’s neuro ICU five days until she began to recover sensation in her arm.  Her doctor predicted a long recovery lay ahead.  But, last fall, Chester was among the 28 accepted into a new nursing apprenticeship program.  This nursing program was relaunched post-COVID in areas of critical need to help students with financial and other barriers.  About her degree, the Anderson resident said, “I am so proud to finally finish what I started.”