weeks at home recovering and begging her parents to let her go back to college . She was stressing over getting behind in her classes . Four weeks from the day of her cardiac arrest , she was back in the classroom .
“ I finished all of my classes with a 4.0 , thank the Lord , but it was very difficult . I was in the hospital trying to email my professors and things like that , and I did have to move one class online and I had to make up some labs for geology ,” she said . “ But I finally got caught up .”
Grice said she did not realize at the time how serious her health scare was for her family until weeks afterwards .
She said a lot of people have asked if she got the COVID-19 vaccine , attempting to blame it , but she never took the vaccination . Nor has she ever been tested for COVID though she has been around people and family members who have had it .
She said in her case , like for most people , heart disease is hereditary and runs on both sides of her family .
Finally finishing rehab last fall , Grice is on schedule to graduate with her bachelor ’ s degree this December , a semester early . Then , she plans to go to graduate school to get her master ’ s degree in social work with plans of becoming a school social worker .
“ I love kids , so any capacity I can work with kids in
“ We make a lot of daily decisions in our lives , but at that point I didn ’ t have any control over anything . I was just in the Lord ’ s hands and all I could do was wait and see how He was going to work .”
school social work or anything like that , is what I want to do ,” she said . “ I had such a great middle school and high school experience and having the opportunity to go back and help other kids be able to have the same opportunities would be nice because those years are such a pivotal moment in your life .”
She said her health incident has also put her life in perspective and made her realize that sometimes we have no control over what happens .
“ We make a lot of daily decisions in our lives , but at that point I didn ’ t have any control over anything ,” she said . “ I was just in the Lord ’ s hands and all I could do was wait and see how He was going to work .”
A devout Christian , Grice credits God with putting all of the puzzle pieces in place to save her life that day a year ago . She said the student who helped with CPR was training for a marathon and almost didn ’ t stop , and the retired EMT and her daughter usually walked on Tuesdays and Thursdays .
“ There were a lot of little pieces that the Lord definitely put into place that morning . That ’ s what everybody likes to tell me . They are like ‘ the Lord has got big plans for you , girl . He ’ s not done with you yet ’ cause he definitely could have had me home right then and there ,” she said . M
- Kennedy Grice
Kennedy Grice , center with face paint , has not let a cardiac arrest slow her down , currently serving as president of her sorority , Alpha Delta Chi , at the University of Alabama . Photo submitted by Kennedy Grice .
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