The Phoenix Magazine 2015

For Kristen Donoghue McCosh, MSJA class of 1986,
the Mount was not simply a high school; it was quite
literally a saving grace. Thanks to the devotion of the
leadership at Mount Saint Joseph Academy and the
charity of the Sisters of St. Joseph, McCosh was able to
complete high school during a time when most schools
would have been unable and unwilling to support her
education.
In 1983, McCosh was a happy, bright, and responsible
15-year-old, an engaging student leader about to complete
her first year at the Mount. That June, the young Mountie
suffered severe spinal cord injuries in a terrible diving
accident, which left her paralyzed. “In an instant, my life
was changed forever,” recalls McCosh. “Suddenly, I was
completely disabled and in a wheelchair. Worse, this was
at a time when people hid such things from the world.”
“The Sisters of St. Joseph didn’t
need a federal law to tell them
what to do, because they
followed a Divine Law.”
Being confined to a wheelchair is not an easy burden for
any teenager to bear, but in 1983, McCosh did not yet
have the benefit of living in a world where the Americans
with Disabilities Act had been signed into law. Referring to
the Sisters, McCosh noted, “They didn’t need a federal law
to tell them what to do, because they followed a Divine
Law.” Following the accident, McCosh endured months of
treatment in the hospital, countless hours of therapy,
numerous visits to the emergency room, and—what she
describes as most dreadful of all—home tutoring.
At that time, West Roxbury High School was the
only school in the city of Boston accessible to students
with disabilities. For South Boston local McCosh,
leaving the safe haven of the Mount for a new school in
an unfamiliar neighborhood was a terrifying prospect. “I
saw nothing in my future if I didn’t return to the Mount.
I could only conceive of one option,” says McCosh,
“Return to Mount Saint Joseph Academy to graduate
with my friends. Or drop out of school.”
The future looked bleak to the teenage McCosh; in
the 1980s, a Catholic school admitting a student in a
wheelchair was unheard of. However, McCosh was able
to meet with Sister Ellen Pumphret, who was then a very
young nun and the principal of the Mount. Sister Ellen
welcomed McCosh back to the Mount for her senior
year with open arms and a warm heart. All of McCosh’s
classes were rescheduled to the first floor to accommodate
her, and the Sisters spared no effort to ensure McCosh
was able to graduate with her class. Says McCosh of the
CSJ’s charity and compassion, “I honestly believe that it
never occurred to them to refuse my request, no matter
who objected, how difficult the circumstances, or what
barriers were presented.”
McCosh recalls, with emotion in her voice, the kindness,
understanding, and grace with which the Sisters of St.
Joseph treated her during her time as a student of the
Mount. In particular, she extended her gratitude to “the
thoughtful Sister Timothea, who imparted her love of
literature; sweet Sister Mary Dolores, who inspired me
with her spirituality; loving Sister Florence, who tried,
fruitlessly, to teach me to sing; and for countless others,
who welcomed and taught me and my family.”
In her years since graduating from the Mount, McCosh
has become a powerful, authentic, and articulate advocate
for the disability community. She is frequently called upon
to speak of her lived experiences in the years before the
ADA, before disability rights and the spread of awareness
and inclusion. McCosh often makes reference to the
Sisters of St. Joseph for giving her a solid foundation
built on strength of character, respect for life, and a
commitment to justice. “I aspire every day to live up to
the example that the Sisters set for me, and in turn, I
strive to be an example for others, a living example of the
intrinsic worth of love, inclusion, and acceptance.”
Kristen McCosh was appointed as the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities for the City of
Boston by Mayor Thomas M. Menino in 2010, and reappointed by mayor Martin J. Walsh in 2014.
Above, she was reunited with Sister Ellen Pumphret when she was the keynote speaker at the 2015
Living the Dream Dinner.
AUTUMN 2015 JOURNEYS ISSUE 13