At the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, we work together with our many partners and Colorado employers to make a positive difference each and every day in the lives of Coloradoans with disabilities. Take a moment to read our stories - and see how their success, your success, and our success all go hand-in-hand.

Employee Profile

Carol Carrington

Place of Employment: Self-Employed
Occupation: Rancher
Rehabilitation Counselor:Mary Chacho

When Carol Carrington was first diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 30, her doctor told her to start looking for a one-level house that was easily accessible. So, Carol set out house shopping and the following year settled on a nice, quaint 880-acre fully-operational cattle ranch in Jefferson.

That was more than 20 years ago. Today, Carol takes care of more than 100 head Highland Cattle, more than 30 horses, and Tabitha, her bottle-fed calf that has her up early every morning combing 800-plus acres to make sure she gets her bottle of breakfast.

Although her daughter and son-in-law are in the process of building a house on the ranch and will soon be a great help to her, she has pretty much ran the entire operation by herself since 1987, all while working to manage her MS. She said she views her disability more as a “temporary inconvenience,” and prefers to focus on what she has rather than what she does not.

“Whatever part isn’t broken, I try to keep those parts moving,” Carol says. “If you let the symptoms get to you, you will let them win.”

Thus far, the symptoms have not won, but they have put up a good fight. In 2004, Carol’s vision deteriorated to the point where she could no longer drive a car, and she had already begun experiencing difficulty reaching areas of her ranch that were not accessible by a car or truck because it was physically laboring for her to walk long distances and over rough terrain.

That’s when she contacted the Easter Seals Agribility program which, in turn, referred Carol to DVR and counselor Mary Chacho in the Golden office. The two agencies coordinated resources to purchase a specially-equipped Kawasaki Mule utility vehicle which allows Carol to drive safely over any terrain on her ranch year round.

“When I got it, it changed my whole life,” she says of the UTV which features a dump bed and a heated, enclosed cab. “The ranch is two miles long, and half of it is bushes and wetlands, and this thing can go right through it.”

Because she can only drive on the ranch, she tends to spend a lot of time there. But, if you ask Carol, that’s just fine with her.

“A friend of mine came by and said ‘Carol, where have you been?’, and I said ‘you know, just over to Buffy’s Pond’,” she says with a chuckle. “But you know, it’s a pretty good place to be.”

Success Stories