BOZEMAN — Ten years ago, on May 15th, 2015, three MSU-Northern students were stabbed in an off-campus apartment. One of those students, Taylor Woolman, reflects on a decade of hardship, recovery, and strength through adversity.
“If you really wanted me to, I could take you through the attack, like it was yesterday–like it had just happened a few hours ago,” Woolman said.
According to charging documents, a man broke into their apartment and began stabbing them dozens of times. Taylor’s roommate was able to get away and have a neighbor call for help.
Taylor Woolman’s story is one of strength and hope. Watch our video to hear her inspiring message and how she’s turning trauma into empowerment
Taylor was stabbed 26 times: two punctured lungs, a severed nerve in her knee, and a stab wound in her brain, affecting the left side of her body.
“I’m what you call a hemiplegic, which means I am completely paralyzed on one side of my body, my left side. My left arm has small functioning but will probably never be a vital part of my life; my left leg and my left foot are paralyzed – I’m half blind, so I had to learn how to drive again. A lot has happened,” Woolman said, “Anything is possible to work through -- I have great therapists, coworkers, my family and friends.”
Taylor’s strength and perseverance carried her through surgeries, physical therapy, and continued recovery throughout the years.
“I am less than .01% of the world that survives from this injury, and I realize there isn’t a handbook to this. There’s not a handbook to any trauma, especially my injury… so I wrote a book of all my experiences and what I would give to people…and what I would say to people to get through this,” Woolman said.
Taylor’s book is titled ‘What is Left”, and though it hasn’t been published yet, it is set to impact those who have gone through the unthinkable. The next 10 years look bright, furthering her career and continuing to look forward.
“I want to keep living. 10 years, it’s a new era…I’m starting over. I had to realize that this 10-year anniversary – I had to start again, because a decade is a big deal. Getting to realize that I had a whole 10 years ahead of me, I had to put that decade behind and realize that hard things happened, great things happened, not so great things happened…but that doesn’t mean that the next 10 years can’t happen,” Woolman said.
The person convicted for the stabbings, Justice L. Brown, remains incarcerated in the Montana State Prison. He was sentenced to 100 years on charges of attempted deliberate homicide.
Correction: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect title of Woolman's book.
