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In This Issue:
BWH Bulletin's year-end issue is a time to highlight BWHers' proudest moments from the past year. We asked you to share one BWH-related memory from 2014 that was meaningful to you, and you offered touching stories about colleagues, patients, families, events and milestones that inspired you. We hope you enjoy these moments.
When A Loved One is in Need
My shining moment at the Brigham was one I had hoped I'd never experience.
It was a bright, sunny April morning. I was in my office at 116 Huntington, my first day back at work after my father died, when my cell phone rang unexpectedly. Joan, my wife, struggled to keep her emotions in check as she told me that our son Peter (pictured, seated at left) had flipped his car three times and slammed sideways into a tree on his way back to college in Connecticut. My head swam as Joan carefully listed my son's injuries identified by the emergency room team at a Rhode Island hospital: abrasions from a seat belt and airbag, broken vertebrae, possible spleen and liver lacerations, a potentially serious head injury. My first response was reflexive: we needed to have Peter transported here to the Brigham, to our hospital.
I have no memory of driving up Huntington Ave. to meet the ambulance that day. But my throat caught as I first detected the slightest hint of a smile on Peter's bruised face as he locked eyes with me, looking up from the gurney in the ED. A virtual cocoon of Brigham doctors, nurses and technicians surrounded him, gently and diligently cataloging his injuries, calmly asking him to identify areas of pain, assessing him.
That April day was only the beginning of our journey with the many talented and caring nurses, technicians and specialists, and neurologist Paul Blachman, MD, who accompanied us through a gauntlet of tests guiding Peter's treatment for many weeks. Through it all, we marveled at the thoughtful, comprehensive and compassionate manner in which Peter was cared for, nurtured and encouraged.
I speak often now of how lucky Peter was that day, of how lucky we all were. Not just for the accident's outcome, which could have been unspeakably tragic, but for the remarkable care we received at the Brigham, which has helped Peter-and all of us-to fully recover.
ADAM SHOLLEY Executive Director, Development Communications and Events