How former golfer Carly Burkhardt overcame tragedy to become a nurse

With all the time Furman University alumna Carly Burkhardt spent in the hospital while being treated for a rare blood disease, she often questioned whether she’d follow her mother’s footsteps into the nursing profession. But despite the pain and emotional toil of aplastic anemia, she stayed the course, her path confirmed by the care she received from doctors and nurses throughout the ordeal.

The 2021 health sciences/pre-nursing alumna and former team member of Furman Women’s Golf will attend the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University this fall with a little help from the NCAA. The organization awarded her a postgraduate scholarship, one of only 21 presented per sports season to women across the nation. Burkhardt was also winner of the 2020 Kim Moore Spirit Award from the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, an honor that recognizes, among other qualities, “mental toughness in facing challenges.”

The Greenville News chronicles Burkhardt’s collegiate journey marked by the life-threatening illness, a near death experience, and the untimely loss of a family member.