The undefeated: Carol Armstrong

On Independence Day 2002, a vicious criminal used a shovel to beat and rob a cleaning woman outside a North Charleston office building, blinding her in one eye and paralyzing her left side. Such a cruel fate would drive most people to despair. Carol Armstrong is clearly not most people.

As Nadine Parks reported in Thursday's Post and Courier, Mrs. Armstrong, at age 43, isn't looking back. She's looking forward with an inspiring attitude and getting lots of inspiring assistance from compassionate members of our community. As Mrs. Armstrong told our reporter: "I won't let an evil man with a shovel ruin our family. He has not defeated me."

Nor has that brute, now serving a 20-year sentence, defeated the good people of the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association — people who are doing all they can to help the Armstrong family.

After the attack, Mrs. Armstrong was in and out of comas, had numerous surgeries over a three-month span and had many more months in therapy before returning to her North Charleston home. While finally going home was a welcome change, the relatively small house lacked assorted wheelchair-accessible features she and her family sorely needed.

Those limitations are about to end for Mrs. Armstrong, her husband and two sons. The builders group broke ground Friday on a large (2,400 square feet) new home for the Armstrongs in Knightsville, with volunteers doing the work and private donations covering the costs of materials. The wheelchair-friendly features will include a ramp from the house into the back yard, where Mrs. Armstrong plans to get "my hands in the dirt" by growing herbs and tomatoes. The kitchen also will be constructed in a manner that maximizes her access.

Builders Association Executive Vice President Philip Ford said one goal for the project is to try "to build them a house, debt-free." Assorted fundraising initiatives will continue to advance this worthy cause.

Mrs. Armstrong expressed "guilt" over being the beneficiary of such generosity, pointing out that others need more help than she does. She also insisted: "I don't want to be remembered as some tragedy. I want people to remember that we triumphed over tragedy, and we're still together as a family."

Such grace under devastating duress provides an uplifting reminder of how resilient and resourceful good folks can be when the going gets tough. So if you think you've been dealt a lousy hand, learn a positive lesson from the admirable examples of the Armstrongs — and their many friends.