Gaige Brown came to Wichita Alternative High School this year because he wanted to finish high school in three years, but he almost didn’t meet that goal due to unforeseen events.
He was held back in first grade, putting him a year behind students his age. He came to Wichita Alternative as a junior to earn his credits and graduate early, because he wanted to graduate with students the same age.
The year was going well until the beginning of October.
“I was having nausea and extreme headaches,” he said. “I got an MRI and found out I had a brain bleed in my head. I had surgery immediately.”
“I don’t know why I got it. It’s really rare that it happened to someone my age.”
After recovering for two weeks, he went back to school, but only for one day.
“My second day back I started having the same symptoms. I went to the ER and had another scan and there was twice as much blood in my head as before.”
Recovery was longer after his second surgery, and he had to undergo physical therapy to be able to walk after being in bed for a while.
Gaige thought he wasn’t going to graduate since he had been gone for so long and he fell behind, but he was determined to meet his goal.
“I just started working and working and working. Since I was able to work at my own pace, I was able to graduate early,” he said. “Most of the day I was doing school work.”
He is proud of himself for remaining focused and meeting his goal. He plans to go to Butler Community College and Wichita State to become an accountant.
