MUSC lab technician builds a life – and legacy – on endurance
By John Bethel
As a teenage candy striper at Trident Hospital, Cynthia Wahl always lingered near the clinical laboratories. The rows of sleek analyzers and racks of color-coded tubes fascinated her. “I fell in love with the little purple and blue tubes,” she recalled. “I asked one of the techs, ‘What do I have to do to work with all of this?’ He told me, ‘You have to be a medical lab technologist. Look into it at Trident Tech.’”
That advice set Cynthia on a path that would define her career — and her legacy.
Medical laboratory technologists (MLTs or MTs) are the behind-the-scenes detectives of health care. They analyze blood, tissue and other samples using highly specialized equipment. Their test results help physicians detect, diagnose and treat disease. At Trident Technical College, Cynthia not only discovered her calling as an MLT but also found a mentor in her instructor, Mary Eileen Leonard.
Leonard, a trailblazer in the field and a founding member of the South Carolina Society of Medical Technologists, spent more than five decades advancing clinical laboratory science at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Roper Hospital. She mentored generations of students and professionals, instilling in them both a respect for science and a commitment to service.
For Cynthia, that mentorship was both professional and deeply personal. “When I went through MLT school, I was pregnant, so my fetus heard Mary Eileen Leonard’s voice,” she said. “As a month-old baby, my daughter Sarah recognized Ms. Leonard’s distinctive voice”
After gaining experience at Roper Hospital and spending a few years in Florida, Cynthia joined MUSC in 1996. She worked the overnight shift full-time while juggling a part-time job and cleaning houses on the side. “Some people change jobs every two years, and there’s no way you’re going to build wealth that way,” she said. “Stay the course. It’s not luck — it’s endurance.”
She lived by that principle, increasing her retirement contributions with every raise and practicing the same kind of steady discipline her mentor modeled. More than 30 years later, she is still at MUSC.
In 2023, Cynthia took another step to ensure her values endure: she named MUSC as a beneficiary of her retirement plan — a simple, flexible way to support a cause she believes in without affecting her current finances.
“Really, just stay the course,” she said. “Even though it’s a very small gift, it can grow into a lot more. It will still make a difference.”
That philosophy shows up in every part of her life — in the lab, in her finances and in her athletic pursuits. At age 60, Wahl is completing her 21st year as a triathlete, having progressed from sprint distances to two full IRONMAN competitions. She first embraced the sport when a coworker at MUSC pointed out that her regular swimming, biking and running already qualified her.
“God gave me endurance and that ‘stick-to-it’ mentality,” she said. “So it’s my responsibility to give to other people.”
For Cynthia, endurance isn’t just about decades of lab work or miles on a bike. It’s about creating something that lasts. With guidance from Leslie Brady, director of development for the MUSC Foundation, she designated her gift to support the College of Health Professions’ greatest needs through the dean’s discretionary fund.
“To know about the legacy I could be leaving, that could make an impact on other people — and I’m still alive to know about it — that’s a blessing,” she said.
