The new year will be here soon, and Celeste Bradley is looking for 2026 to bring her moments of joy.
Celeste had a lot of bad moments in 2025, but she found a way.
She found a way to persevere through unimaginable loss, pain and grief.
And the woman from Madison, Alabama, is ready to make 2026 the best year of her life.
She has always found a way.
“Celeste has always been an overachiever,” her mother Lourie told me.
Celeste, 25, is a brilliant 2018 graduate of Sparkman High School in Harvest, Alabama. She graduated from Auburn University summa cum laude in three years, and she earned her master’s degree from Alabama A&M in 18 months.
“Celeste is by nature impatient,” added Lourie. “In 2025, Celeste knew that if there was a way to get her life back, she was going to find it.”
Celeste Bradley is brilliant, and she’s honest, too.
“I have to admit, there have been many times I have asked God, ‘Why me?’ I would ask Him why this happened to a good person,” she told me. “I couldn’t grasp what I did to deserve it.”
She’s always had drive, and she’s always had faith.
She’s always believed that with drive and faith, she could always find a way.
But this?
This was different.
This was the unthinkable.
It was a year ago, December of 2024, that Celeste Bradley checked into a hospital for a septoplasty. It was a fairly routine procedure that would repair a deviated septum that was causing nasal congestion and sinus issues.
A month later, in January of 2025, Celeste found herself on the brink.
“I developed symptoms from septic shock,” Celeste told me. Septic shock is a life-threatening progression from sepsis, where a severe infection triggers organ impairment, low blood pressure, reduced blood flow, even death.
Celeste found herself hooked to an ECMO, an artificial heart-lung machine that did the work her organs could not do.
The machine kept her alive. She coded twice. She found a way to live.
Celeste was transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and 2025 came in like a lion.
The decision was made. Surgeons took both of Celeste’s hands above the wrist. Celeste was a few weeks from turning 25.
Celeste Bradley was bent on finding a way, She had always found a solution to whatever life brought. She was transferred to Spain Rehabilitation in Birmingham, but 36 hours after she arrived, the vascular team grew concerned about the circulation in Celeste’s legs. She was transferred to UAB Hospital.
It was difficult to digest. A month after doctors at Vanderbilt took both of Celeste’s hands, UAB doctors took both of Celeste’s feet.
“It was all so shocking,” said Celeste. “I went from being a healthy young woman to being a quadruple amputee.”
The winter of 2025 stretched into the spring. Excruciating pain brought tears from Celeste and those close to her.
“It was the most helpless time I have been through in my life,” Celeste’s father, Marcus, told me. “I could see my daughter in pain and I couldn’t help her.
“I cried when she cried,” Marcus added.
“I have always been a faithful Christian,” mom Lourie told me. “But during that time, I suffered from depression and anxiety as I worried about my daughter.”
Months had passed since the surgeries, and Celeste kept grinding. She endured phantom pain. She worked hard to learn how to use her prosthetics. She learned to walk and write and move again. She was in and out of her wheelchair, doing her best to settle into her new normal.
“Celeste had her days,” said Lourie. “She was up and down. She’s only human.
“But Celeste had a strong support system with her parents, her brothers Chris and Tyler, her doctors and rehab specialists,” added Lourie.
Celeste found a way thanks to rehab physicians like Dr. Conley Carr of UAB.
It was last spring when she talked to Lulu. Celeste reached out to Mountain Brook, Alabama’s Lulu Gribbin. Lulu lost her left hand and right leg in a shark attack on June 7, 2024.
“Being able to speak to Lulu was so helpful,” Celeste told me. “Lulu’s mother, Ann Blair, was so encouraging.
“To know that Lulu made it gave me inspiration to forge ahead,” added Celeste.
Progress came. Celeste received her first set of prosthetic legs. Her prosthetic hands arrived in June. The young woman who always found a way went to work on finding her new spirit.
“I talked to the Lord every day,” said Celeste. “I met with my pastor a lot, and I convinced myself my future was dependent on having a good attitude.”
Celeste Bradley worked hard on her body and her mind.
“Once I got my prosthetics and was reunited with my dog, Duke, my quality of life started to improve,” said Celeste.
A rejuvenated Celeste went back to work as a pediatric speech pathologist.
“Not all amputees get back their quality of life back, and for that I was grateful,” Celeste said.
A new year will soon be upon us, and Celeste Bradley is looking for a much different year than she faced in 2025.
Celeste has a new myoelectric right hand. It’s an amazing, cutting-edge device. Sensors that fit around Celeste’s residual limb pick up on muscle impulses from Celeste flexing and extending her arm. Those signals tell the hand to open and close Celeste’s fingers.
Celeste’s goal is to soon get a myoelectric left hand. But the price is high, and insurance is not covering the cost.
Celeste’s support system is proud of the way she has stood strong.
“Celeste has proven that even in the most difficult times, we can find a way,” said Lourie. Said dad Marcus, “Celeste has shown us that we can adapt, and we can always hold our head high.”
And Celeste?
She’s grateful for her support system, telling me, “If I didn’t have my family to help me through this, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have wound up in an assisted care facility. My family showed up in ways I never suspected.”
It was about three weeks ago when Celeste broke her leg.
“I got off balance,” said Celeste. “I didn’t hit the ground, but somehow my leg twisted in its socket.”
The fracture pushed Celeste’s confidence and joy back a bit, but she fought back. Today she’s doing well, and she’s ready to breathe in 2026 with a renewed optimism.
“I’m trying to be intentional in the life I was given,” said Celeste, as she told me she’s excited about her future. “I may never know why it happened to me, but I’m able to show others there is hope in any situation.”
Celeste paused and gently summed up the feelings around how she found a way.
“I want to use my story to tell the world how I survived.”
“I want to tell the world about the miracle of God.”