When Brittany Maney was 14, her fall from a Hayesville middle school cheerleading pyramid caused a lot of pain, fear and a rushed trip to the hospital in Murphy.
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| Brittany Maney (above right and below) is the third member of her family to enroll in Southwestern Community College’s Radiography program. Her mother Danielle (left) graduated in 2008, and they’re pictured here at the graduation ceremony of Brittany’s father Justin (center) this spring. |
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A far more positive outcome of that medical emergency, though, continues to build momentum to this day.
A Computed Tomography (CT) scan, which discovered some minor muscle damage in her lower back, allowed the healing process to begin. It also ignited an interest in the field of medical imaging that eventually consumed Maney’s entire immediate family.
Her mother, Danielle, had studied radiography before choosing to work at her family’s hardware business, so watching the CT scan process not only soothed her worries about the severity of her daughter’s injury – it reawakened her long-ago passion.
“I’ve always loved photography,” recalled Brittany’s mother Danielle, who was coaching the cheerleading squad and saw the accident. She now works at Habersham Medical Center in Georgia. “When Brittany got hurt, everyone at the hospital was so kind and let me watch while they did the CT scan. Getting to see that really sparked my interest in radiography all over again.”
She soon enrolled in Southwestern Community College’s Radiography program and graduated with an Associate’s Degree in 2008. Her enthusiasm for the program and her career was so infectious that her husband, Justin, enrolled a few years later. He earned his Radiography degree from Southwestern this spring.
Six years have passed since the accident, and Brittany Maney’s lower back only nags at her occasionally on rainy or cold days. Like her parents, she mainly just remembers the positive outcomes of that hospital visit.
Earlier this month, she completed the family’s connection to Radiography by entering the program at SCC.
“That day at the hospital in Murphy, the people there were just great to my family and I,” Brittany said. “Afterward, I took a big interest in the field of medicine. That’s what got me into it.”
Kim Argo, clinical coordinator for the Radiography program at SCC, counts it a privilege to be guiding the third Maney toward a career in the field.
“After graduation, most radiography students become living examples of the success of our program,” Argo said. “The highest compliment these students can give us is to recommend the SCC Radiography program to others. To have a mom, then dad and now their daughter come through our program - is the greatest of compliments. They each believe in the effectiveness of our curriculum and faculty to the point they each have chosen us to prepare them for the medical field. It is a huge honor. I taught both Danielle and Justin Maney and I look forward to teaching their daughter, Brittany. It is amazing to me how the positive experience of the parents has so greatly influenced their daughter. I am proud to have them as representatives of this program and of the radiography profession.”
