Special Olympics Georgia recognized a local volunteer for her service.
For 30 years, Dr. Karen Carter has been a dedicated fixture at Special Olympics Georgia (SOGA) events, having an immeasurable impact on the organization and its athletes, according to a news release. she’s led the Special Olympics medical staff at games, ensuring that every athlete is cared for and safe.
Her first volunteer role at a state competition wasn’t in medical, but in leading meal volunteers at the Winter Games.
Not long after joining the medical team, Carter and another key volunteer, began to build a strong core group of medical professionals who would become regulars at SOGA events. She has worked tirelessly to recruit nursing schools, medical students and residents to volunteer, expanding the team’s capacity. From the start, she set the goal for the medical team to be bored during games—because a lack of emergencies meant the athletes were safe, and that’s always the goal, the release continued.
In addition to her work at games, Carter has helped to provide thousands of free physicals for athletes. She has worked with Augusta Developmental Specialists and attended MedFests to ensure every athlete receives the care they need. Her dedication to athlete health is unmatched.
In 2003, she served as a unified partner in bocce at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland. On the flight to Belfast, she helped care for athletes suffering from air sickness, and when an athlete needed medical attention in Dublin, she accompanied the athlete to the hospital and stayed through the night, only to return and compete in bocce the next day.
She represented Team USA as a medical team member at the 2019 World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi and the 2022 USA Games in Orlando.
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