Quadriplegic An Inspiration To All She Meets
Fifteen years ago, a wheelchair-bound Appellate Court judge visited the bedside of a paralyzed Spokane teenager he’d read about in the newspaper.
He urged the girl to get out of bed and get on with life. She could achieve great things, he said, if she’d only try.
Ben McInturff never realized how seriously Holly Caudill would take his words.
On June 15, McInturff comes out of retirement to help Caudill make a bit of history. The former judge will take part in the swearing-in ceremony as Caudill becomes what is believed to be the nation’s first female quadriplegic attorney.
Caudill, 32, passed the bar earlier this month. This week, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno added a Spokane staff position to hire Caudill as a full-time assistant U.S. attorney.
“Most girls dream about wedding gowns and vows,” says Caudill. “My dream has also included tailored suits, courtrooms and independence.”
This is a woman who can’t scratch her nose. She can’t pick up a telephone or brush her teeth. The most routine chores of life - everything - must be done for her.
It’s been that way since a 1977 car wreck snapped her neck like a twig. Yet Caudill stubbornly defies her debilitating condition.
“She’s a miracle girl,” adds McInturff, who knows all about overcoming physical disabilities. The former judge lost use of his legs and left arm to polio. He was the first wheelchair graduate at Gonzaga University’s school of law.
Caudill, he says, is something else. “I don’t know of anyone who has gone through all she has and accomplished so much.”
Finding enough superlatives to describe Caudill is difficult, but I’ll put it this way: She is, without exception, my hero.
In 20 years of journalism I’ve never encountered a more soul-stirring example of the human spirit than this charming, determined woman.
Caudill’s severely retarded brother died when she was 4. Her mother killed herself when Caudill was 10.
At 13, she was a cute, athletic girl whose life forever changed on April 23, 1977.
It happened during a ride home with her best friend’s brother. He lost control and rolled his van 125 feet down a north Spokane hill.
What little settlement there was didn’t begin to cover Caudill’s astronomical medical bills.
It was a hopeless case until Caudill decided to rise above the depression and despair. After that, there was no stopping her.
She was a Lilac Festival princess for Gonzaga Prep. She earned a license to sell real estate. She graduated from Spokane Community College and Gonzaga University.
Then she got it into her head to try Gonzaga’s law school. It took five grueling years, but she earned her diploma in 1993.
None of this could have happened were it not for a legion of devoted fans who supported Caudill at every point.
The Jesuits at Gonzaga gave her full scholarships. Spokane attorney Pat Sullivan has been a rock, raising money and opening doors. Attorney Mike Keyes tutored Caudill for the bar exams.
At the U.S. Attorney’s office, Deborah Hargreaves spent countless hours of her own time customizing a computer for Caudill to use in her legal work.
But this is no charity case. People are drawn to Caudill because she is a vibrant, articulate and intelligent woman who wants nothing more than a shot at being productive.
Jim Connelly, Spokane’s U.S. Attorney, saw her potential and took a chance. It was a gutsy move, hiring Caudill as a paralegal and petitioning Reno to put her on staff. “We’re not just carrying her,” explains Connelly. “We treat her just like we do everybody else.”
As usual, Caudill hasn’t stopped dreaming big dreams. There is an autobiography in the works. She plans a second career giving inspirational speeches.
“What I’ve achieved as far as the law goes is wonderful,” says the miracle girl. “But the big accomplishment is all the friends I’ve found along the way.”