A single bridge connects the patch (about 10 miles long and 6 miles wide at its greatest points) with Johns Island. Wadmalaw is surrounded by creeks and a river, sitting between the mainland and the Atlantic Ocean as part of a chain of islands south of Charleston. About 2,600 live there without stop lights, gas stations or grocery stores.
“It’s really quiet, not a big area at all,” Edmond Robinson said. “What I can say about it is everyone in the community loves each other and you’re very tightly knit, so when all the good news was happening for me, everyone was right there to celebrate and tell me how I’m making the community proud because it’s been such a long time since someone out of there has done something of this magnitude.