New chapter for attack survivor

SUMMERVILLE — Life is about to get a little easier for Carol Armstrong, the mother whose courage after a vicious mugging inspired a community.

No more scraping the walls of her North Charleston house with her wheelchair or waiting for her husband to lift her through narrow doorways.

They cut the ribbon on a new chapter in their life Tuesday. It's a 2,400-square-foot house designed, built and donated by local builders and suppliers.

"This house is just overwhelmingly beautiful," she told several dozen people who attended the ceremony. "I just want to cry. I don't know if I'm good enough for this house. It's just really classy, and I'm down to earth. I feel the love that went into it. I can't express how I feel."

Armstrong was attacked July 4, 2002, while locking up an office she had just cleaned. A man beat her in the head until she lost consciousness, left her for dead and drove off in her car.

Hugh Bolin III was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Armstrong, a mother of two school-aged sons, spent the next three months at Medical University Hospital, slipping in and out of comas and undergoing numerous surgeries. Months of physical therapy followed until she returned home.

The Post and Courier ran a story on her progress in April 2006. Phillip Ford, executive vice president of the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association, read it and decided to rally the troops to build her a house she could move around in.

James Armstrong, her husband, bought a lot west of downtown Summerville. The builders donated the materials and labor.

They stuck to their commitment, even after the housing market ground to a halt with the economic downturn. "It's been a heroic effort to get this thing together," Ford said. "There are people on this list (of more than 50 sponsors) who are really struggling."

James Armstrong, a software engineer, was excited but nervous. He hopes to move the family in this weekend. But he will have to keep making payments on the old house in Windsor Hill until he can sell it.

Armstrong clings to her faith. She said she forgave her attacker and prayed for him. But even with the new house, coping with her limitations is not easy for her. Her left arm is paralyzed, she can't see very well, and she battles depression.

"I have my good days and my bad days," she said.

Reach Dave Munday at 745-5862 or dmunday@postandcourier.com.