Gallatin woman loses arm but not desire to become cosmetologist

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- An automobile accident in November may have cost Shaina Carder an arm, but it didn't take away her dreams of being a cosmetologist.

The 20-year-old Gallatin resident completed Vatterott College's cosmetology program last week. Now she has her sights set on learning how to use a new mechanical and then putting her education to good use.

"I can use a curling iron," Carder said. "I burned myself a few times, but I can do it."

Before the crash in which she lost the arm and broke both collarbones -- an accident in which her car flipped three times -- Carder didn't seem all that interested in going to school.

She skipped classes for weeks at a time. She weighed 87 pounds and spent everything she had for drugs. And she didn't care.

Then she woke up from a surgery doctors had told her mother she wouldn't survive.

"It's hard to accept, but this did change me for the better," she said. "I want to accomplish something. I had to finish what I started."

She continued taking cosmetology classes in between doctor appointments and physical therapy.

Her classmates shampoo and style her hair every morning, then she does her makeup.

"I used to take things for granted, like zipping my coat or buttoning my pants," Carder said. "But you'd be surprised at what you can do."

The pain of her injury still is almost unbearable, but she is determined not to let that slow her down.

"The pain is constant," she said. "I can still feel my fingers, but I'm getting used to it. For a while, I didn't think I could endure. But I've got no choice."

"Sure, I've cried and asked God why this happened to me," she said. "But I just have to go on. It could've been worse, and I'm dealing with it a lot better."