Mom earns honorary MBA after attending every class with quadriplegic son

Mom earns honorary MBA after attending every class with quadriplegic son



Let everyone know that nothing is impossible

We present you this story to a young man he got

Master of Business Administration

Borrow was credited

To the mother who received

Honorary award as well



What she didn't know was that she was getting a degree, too.

Marty O'Connor graduated Saturday with a master's degree in business administration from Chapman University in Orange, California. An accident a few years ago left him a quadriplegic, reliant on voice-recognition software and other aids -- and unable to take notes or write answers to tests.

So his mother went to every class with him, scribbling down notes and helping out however she could.



As a mom, you just want to help your kids get through things," Judy O'Connor, a retired school teacher, told CNN affiliate KTLA. "I always believed in him. I knew he could do it, and I just wanted to have his back."

Turns out her son had her back, too. At his graduation, O'Connor wheeled her son across the stage. Then she was recognized as a "special individual" and awarded an honorary MBA of her own as the crowd cheered.

And it was all her son's idea.

"I was just so excited for her," Marty O'Connor said, "because she deserved it so much."



 Mother who attended university every day with her quadriplegic son to take notes for him is surprised with an honorary MBA at his graduation

Judy O'Connor acted as her son Marty's note-taker at Chapman University

Marty was paralyzed from the shoulders down after falling down stairs in 2012

Marty, 29, graduated from the Californian university on Saturday with his MBA

As Judy pushed him across the stage to accept his diploma, the university revealed she would be receiving her own honorary degree



A California mother who attended every university class with her quadriplegic son so he could earn his MBA was surprised with her own honorary degree at his graduation.

Judy O'Connor, a retired elementary school teacher, was 29-year-old Marty O'Connor's note-taker as he worked towards his master's of business administration degree at Chapman University.

She joined her son at his graduation on Saturday and pushed him across the stage in his wheelchair so he could accept his diploma.

As they stopped midway to pose for a photo, the announcer revealed Mrs O'Connor would receive an honorary MBA as a thank you from her son and the university.

'Mrs Judith O'Connor has attended all the classes with her son Marty,' the announcer said, choking back tears.

'She has taken notes and worked with Marty throughout his academic career.'

Her son was the one who suggested she be given the honorary award, according to the announcer.

'I was just so excited for her because she deserved it so much,' Marty told KTLA.

His emotional mother said: 'As a mom, you just want to help your kids get through things. I always believed in him. I knew he could do it and I just wanted to have his back.'

The former competitive snowboarder and volleyball player attended physical therapy five days a week to help him heal, before deciding to pursue graduate school.

'The last two years have been a whirlwind. It's been extremely challenging but even more so, rewarding,' he told the Chapman University blog prior to graduating.

During his studies he used an iPad, laptop, voice recognition software and a mouth stick to help him.