<div><p>Imagine being a mother and finding out your son with a promising career is now paralyzed. </p><p>That's the reality Judy O'Connor had to face in 2012, after her son Marty fell down a flight of stairs just two years after earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado. </p><p>Judy was living in Florida at the time, but when Marty found out he'd be doing physiotherapy 5 days a week in Southern California, she moved to be with him and help him through it. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/920x920.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/920x920_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/920x920_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>Judith and Marty O'Connor</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>"After I got hurt, I didn't know which end was up. I didn't really have a direction," Marty O'Connor <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/MBA-for-mom-who-attended-every-class-with-11167017.php#photo-12954667">said</a>. "I needed that mental challenge and wanted to add some professional value to myself."</p><p>Marty decided he was going to get his MBA, but his inability to use his hands would be a challenge. </p><p>"I didn't know how going back to school without being able to write, or use my hands, or raise my hand in class, any of that, would go," O'Connor <a href="https://blogs.chapman.edu/happenings/2017/05/09/back-to-work-chapman-mba-disability/">told the Chapman University blog.</a> "But I think it really kind of challenged me to do some introspection and see what strengths I do have to utilize, and how I can use my situation to work on some new strengths. This has really forced upon me some patients [sic] and thoughtfulness in everything I'm doing."</p><p>Judy, a business graduate of University of Notre Dame, returned to school with Marty and attended each of his classes.</p><div><amp-facebook data-href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=136949860154492&set=a.136949896821155.1073741826.100015184369132&type=3&theater" layout="responsive" height="600" width="640"></amp-facebook></div><p>Continue to the next page to see what Judy's surprise was!</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Marty was given a $10,000 annual scholarship from Swim with Mike, an organization named after All-American swimmer Mike Nyeholt, who was paralyzed in a motorcycle crash in 1981. </p><p>With the help of Swim with Mike, voice recognition software, and his mom Judy, Marty graduated from Chapman University with an MBA. </p><p>"As a mom, you just want to help your kids get through things," Judy O'Connor <a href="http://ktla.com/2017/05/22/o-c-mom-who-attended-every-class-with-quadriplegic-son-earns-honorary-mba-alongside-him/" target="_blank">told </a>KTLA. "I always believed in him. I knew he could do it and I just wanted to have his back."</p><div><figure><a href="https://www.swimwithmike.org/campaigns/marty-oconnor-fundraiser/" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/image1-706x941-1.jpeg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/image1-706x941-1_GH_content_550px.jpeg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/image1-706x941-1_GH_content_650px.jpeg 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="https://www.swimwithmike.org/campaigns/marty-oconnor-fundraiser/" target="_blank">Swim With Mike</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>As Judy was preparing to roll her son across the stage to accept his diploma, the announcer pointed out a "special individual" who was receiving a degree as well. </p><p>Judy O'Connor. </p><p>"Mrs. Judith O'Connor has attended all the classes with her son Marty," the announcer <a href="http://ktla.com/2017/05/22/o-c-mom-who-attended-every-class-with-quadriplegic-son-earns-honorary-mba-alongside-him/" target="_blank">said</a>. "She has taken notes and worked with Marty throughout his academic career."</p><p>All of this was Marty's idea, and the faculty was on board. </p><p>"I was just so excited for her because she deserved it so much," Marty O'Connor said.</p><p>As for Judy, she couldn't be happier. Not for the degree, but for Marty. </p><p>"I'm a geek. I love being in school," she <a href="http://ktla.com/2017/05/22/o-c-mom-who-attended-every-class-with-quadriplegic-son-earns-honorary-mba-alongside-him/" target="_blank">said</a>. "I'm not going to lie. I've enjoyed every minute of it."</p><div><amp-facebook data-href="https://www.facebook.com/ChapmanUniversity/photos/a.173998260966.127346.161718535966/10155377284550967/?type=3" layout="responsive" height="600" width="640"></amp-facebook></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><amp-iframe sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" layout="responsive" frameborder="0" height="9" width="16" src="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/embed/video/1469847.html?referer=shared"></amp-iframe><p></p></div>