Owensboro native celebrates first semester of college two years after coma

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WFIE) - Owensboro native Grant Oller is celebrating a successful first semester of college.

A freshman at Western Kentucky University, Oller said it’s been a great experience. He says it’s another milestone to show how far he’s come.

In 2018, Oller developed a cough at a school dance. Over the course of the next week, his condition worsened.

He quickly developed bilateral pneumonia. Doctors at Norton’s Children’s Hospital put him in a medically-induced coma to save his life.

Oller said the future didn’t look bright.

“There were times when I was at Norton’s that the outcome did not look good,” Oller said.

Oller says he now feels great. With only some scars on his lungs, he’s able to live life to its fullest extent.

He said he wants to try out for the baseball team when sports are renewed. Oller also said he’s already found a community he loves in the nonprofit group Dance Big Red.

His fight to survive has even inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. He’s studying biology and chemistry with the ultimate goal of becoming a doctor.

“I thought about how medical professionals and doctors at Norton’s helped not just me, but so many people day in and day out,” Oller said. “I thought a career path like that would just be so satisfying.”

December 21 marks the two-year anniversary of when Oller was first discharged from the hospital. He said the not-so-distant memory makes him appreciate what he has a little more around the holidays.

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