Three years ago to this day, I collapsed and went into cardiac arrest while playing basketball. My heart stopped and blood no longer flowed to my brain. Fortunately, I already had an internal defibrillator implanted in my chest in October 2013 after I survived a similar incident in high school. Amazingly, that small device was able to shock my heart and spare my life.

A friend of mine who witnessed the event described me as lying lifeless on the ground before spurting up. I remember jolting up off the ground in a delirious state. I kept pleading, “Do not let me die, do not let me die.” It took several minutes to calm down and regain my bearings. I was rushed to the hospital where I spent the weekend undergoing a wide range of tests and receiving care. Without a doubt, this day continues to be one of the scariest moments of my life. In the long run, that experience is something that has helped strengthen my resolve to overcome any type of adversity I face. It has taught me to keep moving forward regardless of the circumstances and to enjoy every single moment of life.

As I have learned through this experience, the world does not wait for anyone. Life keeps moving, and it is my responsibility to pick myself up and push along as well. The week that I collapsed was also a week in which I had many assignments to complete and exams in microeconomics and multivariable calculus, challenging classes I knew I did not want to to fall behind on.

I was scared and needed help. Unfortunately, I did not receive any from the University. The only option the school offered me was to take a leave of absence and withdraw from all my classes, which I did not want to do. I asked for permission to make up the exams that I missed. That request was denied, and no support was provided.

The most irritable part of the experience was that in the most extreme circumstance, my serious health adversity was treated no different from a common cold. It was extremely frustrating to miss a whole week of school under these circumstances and having to play catch up, knowing that my only other alternative was to withdraw from the entire quarter. This was the worst option and would have significantly affected my mental health negatively. But it was the only one, and my GPA consequently took a deep dive.

Following this, I was registered for AccessibleNU, which was supposed to work with the school to grant more accommodations should a similar incident occur. I vividly remember expressing my concerns and doubts that they would actually provide the promised support in such an event.

Due to a misdiagnosis a few years back, I underwent a major surgery earlier this month and was on bedrest in the hospital the entire weekend. I promptly reached out to AccessibleNU asking for the promised accommodations in my classes. In one of my economics classes, I received a one-day extension that I requested for a problem set. However, in another economics course, I was told to refer to the policies of the syllabus if I was not able to turn in the assignment. AccessibleNU did not even try to help me with at least taking my exam one day later.

I am well aware of the different policies in place and situations that can make it difficult to accommodate special requests. The AccessibleNU mission statement claims that the organization “has a legal and ethical responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations and services to all students registered with the office” in order to “provide equal access to academic and co-curricular components of a Northwestern education.”

At the minimum, I expected that when faced with experiencing a near death situation, spending the entire weekend in the hospital and recovering from major surgery, there would at least be some level of understanding. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Needless to say, this mention was the second time that I have been treated this way. To say the least, I feel betrayed with very little value placed on my life.

I wanted to share these two distinct experiences with the University to hopefully drive a positive change. Grades this quarter may be inconsequential for me, but there are numerous Northwestern students right now or those in the future who may not be as fortunate or have the ability to take time off. The school needs to understand that cannot be the only feasible option.

One way forward is opening up a dialogue between the student and professor where proper accommodation can be made. I felt like I was being punished for surviving. Had the story been different, the University most likely would have sent grief counselors or done something for parents to show concern even when none was shown. The lack of communication from the University showed me they didn’t care about my well-being.

These two instances presented opportunities for the process to work. Unfortunately, it did not. I only wanted a fair playing field.

While in the hospital, I was determined to ensure this unfortunate event would not characterize my life trajectory. I wanted to use it as motivation to continue pursuing my goals undeterred of whatever I endured. I am confidently writing that I have accomplished all I set out to do when I stepped on this campus in the fall of 2016. I will be graduating with a degree in economics and statistics and working in downtown Chicago thereafter.

As I reflect upon my experiences at Northwestern, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness on how this University has molded me. Conversely, I am also incredibly disappointed in the treatment that I received at one of the most trying times of my entire life. I hope the words that I have written, and possible solutions that I have offered are taken earnestly. My wish is that if there are Northwestern students faced with similar situations in the future, they do not have to endure what I and others endured during our time of need.

Chibuzo Ikonte is a Weinberg senior. He can be contacted [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.