Friends remember life of MSU alumna, disability activist

Although the University of Michigan offered her more scholarship money than MSU, Karey Osadchuk had always known she wanted to be a Spartan.

Karey was a second-year graduate student when she was forced to drop out this semester because she was dying. Karey suffered from gastroparesis and a number of other health problems originally caused by unknown circumstances and worsened by improper physician care. She had been dying for eight years. In spite of this, Karey graduated from MSU, a feat that many physicians had told her would be impossible with her condition.

She looked like and acted like your average healthy, beautiful and energetic 26-year-old. Her friends can attest that she had a spirit that was never-endingly positive in spite of all the negative experiences she had been through. She was a beacon of light in the darkest of times and her energy and positive outlook on life was contagious. Ninety-nine percent of people looking at her would never have guessed she had debilitating disabilities that prevented her from doing many things other people could do. It was these same invisible disabilities that kept her hospitalized for months at a time and often prevented her from being able to attend classes.

She was a strong disability activist, involved for many years in the Council for Students with Disabilities and a volunteer and intern with the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities. Karey always cared more about others than she did about herself, even though few were ever there to support her. She was in graduate school here at MSU to become a rehabilitation counselor and help people with disabilities to overcome the many obstacles they face in their daily life. The biggest of these obstacles was the attitude of people who do not have a disability. Upon being told she was not disabled by someone because she simply did not look disabled, Karey was spurned to form the Association for Chronic Health Empowerment, or ACHE. Karey had what is considered an “invisible” disability because her health fluctuated greatly. Some days she would appear as healthy as anyone else and some days she was not able to walk, much less stand.

Karey’s goals were to help to tear down the barriers and help to dispel the rumors about people with disabilities. Karey believed that you could never judge someone by how they appeared, because she was misunderstood by everyone who ever met her. She may have passed away before her full impact on the world could be felt, but those who had the pleasure of meeting her will be forever impacted by her memory. Never was there someone so great who had so much bad happen to them. Karey passed away on Jan. 2, 2010 while resting in hospice, a place for people who wish to die with dignity. The same hospice she once volunteered at.

We will miss you Karey and thank you for all you meant to us.

Friends of Karey Osadchuk