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NORMAL – The road to a master's degree can be a winding one. For Kevin Wallpe it had a major detour when he suffered life-threatening injuries after being struck by a car while crossing the street, just days before he was to take his last major step to his degree.

But 17 months after the accident that initially put him into a coma with multiple skull fractures, a traumatic brain injury and damage to most of his colon, Wallpe was back on the Illinois State University campus earlier this month to defend his thesis for his master's degree in psychology.

To prepare for the thesis defense, he reviewed his annotated bibliography and other material. Because his head injuries affected his vision, that was difficult at times. He is still relearning to walk. His father, Dan, drove him from their Indiana home to ISU.

“To see that he could be this well is a miracle,” his father said.

But there was never any doubt in Kevin Wallpe's mind about returning to ISU to finish what he started.

“It made me more excited to get it over with,” Wallpe said.

He left ISU in 2012 to begin a doctoral program at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. It is not unusual to begin a doctoral program before completing a master's degree.