James Karwin grew up in Menifee but moved to Illinois to attend college. He stayed there and began his career as a math teacher at a local high school two days before his life took a drastic turn. He was riding in the backseat of a car that had a head-on collision with a tree Aug. 21, 2023, in Aurora, Illinois.He broke his neck and five bones in his face, had a complete spinal cord injury at the second and third vertebrae of the lumbar region and temporary kidney failure. He had an above-the-knee amputation of his left leg and had his colon, small intestine and 80% of his big intestine removed.“The driver was fine, talked to the cops and went to work the next day; the passenger broke his foot,” James Karwin, who spent six weeks in the hospital and then five weeks doing in-patie
