Rolling Rockets

Marty O’Connor spent the morning of August 12, 2012 playing golf. Then he caught a matinee Angels game before hanging out with friends in Newport Beach. That’s when he fell down a flight of stairs and suffered a C3/C4 compression fracture that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. “After I got hurt,” Marty said, “I kind of thought everything was lost. I didn’t really have a future.” But he worked out at rehab centers, and began to use a wheelchair. In 2015 he enrolled at Chapman University to pursue an MBA. His mother Judy, a retired elementary school teacher, attended all his classes with him as his official note-taker. Two weeks ago, at Marty’s graduation ceremony, his mom was surprised with an honorary degree. “She’s been instrumental these past two years,” Marty said. “There’s no way I could have achieved this success without her.”