“I have plans, things I want to do, places I want to see,” said Carter, a junior in broadcast journalism.
She is actively involved on campus, holding the title of Brand Ambassador for Coca-Cola and Director of Archives for the Delta Gamma sorority.
“I’m successful because I let myself be successful,” Carter said. “I won’t allow being in a wheelchair to hold me back.”
Carter was in her first wheelchair when she was eight. At 14, she underwent a 12-hour-long surgery after the deterioration of her muscles left her with sclerosis and a collapsed lung.
“I’ve torn both my meniscuses from my legs giving out on me,” she said of moments she spends out of the chair.
She dedicates time trying to inspire other community members who share her disease. In high school she was a state ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, with which she traveled all over Utah and Nevada talking about her story and encouraging others to live life to the fullest.
“I’m tired of people thinking that because we’re in wheelchairs, we aren’t normal people,” Carter said, “I want to get rid of that stereotype … people say they forget I’m in a wheelchair. Honestly, sometimes I forget I’m in a wheelchair.”
Silvia Potema, a senior in entrepreneurship, is Carter’s “big sis” in Delta Gamma.
“Carli is the one girl I truly look up to. Every day she has a smile on her face and is more grateful to be on this earth than anyone I know … I find her being my big sister with always telling me not to give up and pushing me to my limits.”
Carter lives in an apartment close to campus with her roommate. She brings herself to walk short distances, and can stand on her own for hours at a time.
“I drive a normal car. I don’t have a hand gear or anything,” she said.
But Carter does not need the car to get to school.
“I just walk over — or roll over, I suppose,” she said, noting her pink electric wheelchair that reaches a high speed of nine mph.
So what separates Carter from others with spinal muscular atrophy?
Neurologist Susan T. Iannoccone stated in a medical journal that the age at death for patients with spinal muscular atrophy type 2 is variable, but the majority don’t survive beyond age seven. Many have led lives to the third or fourth decade; the eldest patient in one study lived until age 72.
“I have a lot of friends who have what I have — exact same type as me, type 2 — and they don’t walk at all. They can’t drive. They can’t get dressed by themselves or shower by themselves.”
Carter attributes her abilities to her determination.
“I think it is an attitude thing,” said Carter. “I don’t want people to think that just because I’m in a wheelchair, I can’t do something or I can’t be a certain person. I do always try to push myself to the next limit.”
She likes to push the boundaries, like crowd surfing in her wheelchair at an Awolnation rock show at the U, which was one of the highlights of her year.
She said she refuses to stop living her life for the fear of falling — literally.
“My knees are always bruised because I fall so often. And I’m just like, ‘YOLO,’ ” she said, with a smile stretching ear to ear.
Once when Carter was asked to a fraternity date night, she insisted on following her friends onto an ice rink — with her wheelchair.
“I was told I couldn’t take my wheelchair on the ice, and I threw the biggest fit! They said I was a liability, and I was like ‘I don’t care! Just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do what everyone else is doing.’ I’m always doing things like that.”
She attributes her positive and outgoing mentality to her mom, whom she said doesn’t give special treatment and always pushes her to new extremes.
“My mom got sick of hearing that her daughter was going to pass away. She kept me as active as I could. Even now, I’ll be like ‘Mom, help me,’ and she’ll be like, ‘you can do it yourself. I know you can.’ ”
Carter hopes to become on-camera talent for TV news in the near future and she refuses to let any part of her disability hold back her ambitions.
“Of course there’s more to think about, but I wouldn’t let it stop me,” Carter said.