It happened in just one night.

She did not see it coming, nor did she feel the eruption in her brain that caused the damage.

She fell asleep in her parents’ bed. She slept peacefully, but while she was dreaming, Louisville senior Rachel Egger had a stroke. She was only 3 years old.

Egger vividly remembers waking up that morning. When she tried to get out of bed, she collapsed on the floor.

She had lost feeling in her arms and legs. At the time, she could not walk.

In the 1980s, medical advancements could not determine what caused the aneurysm in her brain that cut off circulation on the right side of her body. She lost the use of her left arm and stayed in the hospital for about a month.

She doesn’t want to know today why it happened. She just accepts it and tries to overcome the negative opinions of doctors and teachers from her past.

“Some of my teachers told my dad that I would not be able to go to college,” Egger said. “That is my pet peeve. I hate when people tell me I cannot do something. I will prove them wrong.”

Now, Egger is a broadcasting major with a minor in theater management. Last summer, she interned in New York City for a production company. She will spend this summer in Utah doing management at a theater.

“I used to be a little bit shy,” she said. “But when I went to New York, everything changed. For the first time, my stroke and arm did not matter because they all have so much background and culture. I found my niche there.”

Egger’s father, Doug Egger, said that she used to be a very shy kid, but after joining her high school choir and singing in Carnegie Hall, she opened up.

Egger has also accomplished several activities that once seemed impossible. She climbed several mountains in Colorado with her father despite her shorter left leg.

“She does not draw back or give up,” Doug Egger said. “She has a great work ethic and knack for hanging in there.”

Brandenburg senior J.D. Menser had a few broadcasting classes with Egger and worked with her on several projects. He said that Egger is a very talented individual and doesn’t let anything stop her from achieving her goals.

“She doesn’t let her weaknesses get in the way,” Menser said. “She doesn’t let her arm hinder anything she does. She takes the lead when she is working in a group.”

Egger said there are many things that she can do that most people think she would not be able to do without the use of both arms. She found ways to tie her shoe by using her left arm, and she learned how to ski without the poles. She even learned how to play the piano with one hand.

Egger said she doesn’t dwell on the things she can’t do.

“The things I can do outweigh the things I cannot,” she said.

She still remembers those students who excluded her for being different and those teachers that doubted her abilities.

“Right now, I just want to prove everybody wrong,” she said.

Reach Jill Erwin at diversions@chherald.com.