Nonprofit Spotlight: Bosma Enterprises

Carrie’s story: finding strength in community

Carrie Turpen was set to undergo a standard steroid injection at her doctor’s office in the fall of 2012. What was supposed to be a typical, routine injection changed the course of Carrie’s life forever: Carrie was injected with a contaminated steroid.

One of many injections that caused an outbreak of fungal meningitis across the country in September of 2012, the contaminated medicine caused Carrie’s heart to stop. While doctors were able to revive her, Carrie’s life was permanently altered.

Carrie woke up in the hospital a day later. She had suffered brain trauma, could no longer walk, had deficits with her central nervous system and suffered from double vision.

She was terrified. While Carrie learned to walk over six months of extensive physical therapy and worked to regain her speech capabilities, she had another challenge: Carrie had to learn to live as a person who is newly blind. She had so many questions about her new life: Would she be able to continue being her independent self? Would she be able to continue working in cosmetology? What would her relationships with others look like now that she was blind? Her mind was spinning.

Carrie’s ability to see prior to the contaminated medicine, paired with her ability to overcome her mobility and speech impairments, made her reluctant to seek out services for those who are blind or visually impaired. While she was still in denial, her condition continued to worsen. Carrie’s lowvision doctor suggested she seek out services from Bosma.

Carrie faced complications in her search due to her other major health problems. Eventually though, Carrie was able to tour Bosma’s Center for Visionary Solutions and was immediately ready to take the step forward.

After her tour her first thought was, “I need this place right now.”

Through Bosma, Carrie has learned to implement assistive technology that helps her live independently. Carrie now can enter her own contacts in her phone, send text messages, check emails and more. Not only did Carrie find independence, but she also found community.

Group sessions in adjustment counseling at Bosma helped Carrie to find community with other people who were newly blind. Bosma gave them a place to share experiences and connect, reminding them they are not alone. As well as being therapeutic for Carrie, the adjustment counseling sessions were beneficial for her selfesteem and confidence.

Despite the massive life changes that came as a side-effect of what was supposed to be a routine procedure, Carrie lives with confidence, independence and in a community that reinforces that she is not alone. Life did not end with her loss of vision, and Carrie thanks Bosma for helping her to reclaim her old life and help to shape it into a newer, better one.

With the skills she has learned with Bosma, Carrie continues to practice cosmetology, emphasizing holistic hair care, with her own set of clients in Princeton, Indiana.

Despite how alone Carrie felt in the wake of her initial situation, she is not alone. While thousands of Americans are already blind or visually impaired, it is predicted this number will grow. Experts estimate by 2050, rates of vision loss will double due to the country’s aging population, and 79% of Americans say that other than their death or the death of a loved one, losing one’s eyesight is the worst thing that could happen to them.

Adults and children with disabilities make up nearly a fifth of Indiana’s population, and represent more than 54 million Americans. Now is the time for us to celebrate, empower and encourage those with disabilities.

Carrie is not a person defined or limited by her disability, and her power to live, work and thrive has been supported through Bosma. While not all people with vision loss are fortunate enough to have these circumstances, it’s up to businesses, friends, family members and neighbors to be advocates for people with disabilities.

By being an advocate, we can raise awareness about independent living as someone with a disability, and show that even with an impairment, people with disabilities can do almost all the same things someone without a disability can.

Find out more about the services provided by the Bosma Center for Visionary Solutions visit www.bosma. org/center.