When she woke up from surgery two weeks before she died, the first thing 44-year-old Wanda McClamb asked for was her schoolbooks.
The UNC junior, who transferred to the University from Wake Technical Community College in 2012, kept her backpack by her hospital bed, her friend Katie Savage said.
“Who but Wanda would have her book bag at a major surgery?” said Savage, a junior political science major. “She just wanted to be well to go back to school.”
McClamb, who died of complications from a kidney transplant on Aug. 4, was studying to become a social worker. Being almost entirely blind did not prevent her from earning a near-perfect GPA her first semester at UNC.
One month after her death, UNC students are coming forward to share their memories of McClamb.
Savage met McClamb earlier this year through Advocates for Carolina, a club that works to raise acceptance of people with disabilities.
Savage, a founder of the club, said McClamb took her under her wing from the start of their friendship.
Both women were transfers to UNC and lived with physical disabilities, and they built a close relationship on their commonalities.
“Wanda always believed in me,” Savage said.