Help Jessica raise money

Almost everyone on my moms side of the family has run Falmouth at least once. In fact, my grandfather ran it every year until he was in his late seventies. I always knew I wanted to run it myself, but never found the motivation to do it. I am excited to finally run it, and I am beyond honored to get to do so with the Heart Warrior Foundation team.

As an 8East nurse, the Heart Warrior Foundation holds a special place in my heart. It’s impossible to imagine how heart families can find the strength, energy, and time to give back to other heart families while simultaneously fighting, and recovering from, their own battles. Congenital heart disease effects 1 out of 100 live births each year. Yes, 1 out of 100!! It is an honor to go to work everyday and help these families fight their battles. It’s an honor to help new parents navigate their non-traditional newborn period and introduce them to the world of CHD. It’s an honor to get to help families navigate their countless unexpected longterm admissions. It’s an honor to get to guide a family through Pink Heart Day. And it’s an unfortunate honor to support families through the unimaginable loss of their Heart Warrior. We learn to celebrate even the smallest victories, and to grow from the setbacks. We decorate doors, have dance parties, play pretend, and watch 5 minute increments of Moana for the fifth time that shift. We make the hospital a home, and fall deeply in love with our tiny heart warriors

Running Falmouth will also be an important milestone for my own health journey. The race is exactly one year after I briefly became a cardiac patient myself. My short admission for bilateral pulmonary emboli, right lung infarction, and right sided heart strain is nothing compared to the lifelong battle these heart warrior families endure. Becoming a patient gave me a new perspective for the things families go through that the bedside nurse never sees. I hope I continue to carry these lessons into my nursing practice to provide more compassionate and well-rounded care.

Any donations to the Heart Warrior Foundation would be greatly appreciated. The organization is lead by a group of Heart Warriors and works hard to provide support for the countless other Heart Warrior families.