Ormsby Is Returning to Studies at N.C. State

Track star Kathy Ormsby, paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from a bridge during a race last summer, is resuming her studies at North Carolina State University.

“This is the right place for me,” Ormsby said. “It is what I ought to be doing.”

Ormsby, once an outstanding runner, was injured after she ran out on a National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship race in Indianapolis June 4 and jumped from a nearby bridge. Police labeled the incident a suicide attempt.

Ormsby said she was nervous about her return to school after a seven-month recovery in hospitals in Indianapolis and Durham and at her Rockingham home. But she prepared herself Sunday and Monday, spending time on campus organizing her dorm room and readying herself for the spring semester, which begins Thursday.

She had wanted to return to North Carolina State in August. “I just wasn’t physically able to do that,” Ormsby said in an interview with The News and Observer of Raleigh.

“I still love running, and even though I can’t do it now, it’s not something I can just let go of. I plan to share it through my teammates, supporting them like they have supported me. They’ve been so good to me. I consider them more my friends than my teammates.

“But so many people have been good to me.”

The dean’s list student plans to continue her studies in premed but said she was not sure of her plans after graduation.

“I’m taking 13 hours this semester, but I’m not sure how long it will take me to graduate,” Ormsby said. “With my running, I didn’t take quite the load the other students did.”

Track and field Coach Rollie Geiger said Ormsby remained on a full athletic scholarship and would be able to maintain it “until she graduates whether that be two semesters, four semesters or whatever.”

Ormsby declined to say why she left the track during the NCAA 10,000-meter final for women. During an interview last month, Ormsby had spoken of a fear of failing God, her coach, teammates and parents.

“I couldn’t face the embarrassment,” she had said. “I just wanted to run away.”

But she is back in Raleigh visiting her coach, her teammates and preparing for a new semester.

“I’m nervous, but I’m glad I’m back,” she said.