UC Health cardiac surgeons perform Ohio medical first procedure Share Copy Link Copy

LEADING THE WAY ONLY ON WLWT. TONIGHT. A COINCIDENCE ON THE HARDEST DAY? YEAH. A NURSE AT UC HEALTH LEARNS THE PATIENT THAT SHE’S BEEN CARING FOR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR A SCHOLARSHIP THAT HELPED HER BECOME A NURSE. WLWT NEWS FIVE’S LINDSAY STONE. SHARING THE EMOTIONAL MOMENT WHEN THE TWO CONNECTED THE DOTS. MOM WAS MAGIC. KAREN SANDERS WORKED AS A NURSE FOR 30 YEARS AT UC HEALTH. DANIEL DRAKE CENTER, OVERCOMING MANY OBSTACLES TO GET THERE. SINGLE MOM WITH A CHILD IN KINDERGARTEN. UP UNTIL THEN, SHE HAD WORKED SO MANY DIFFERENT JOBS. SHE WAS A SCHOOL BUS DRIVER. SHE SOLD AVON. SHE BABYSAT. BUT KAREN NEVER GAVE UP. DECADES LATER, HER DAUGHTERS CREATED A SCHOLARSHIP IN HER NAME FOR SINGLE MOTHERS ENROLLED IN NURSING SCHOOL AT UC BLUE ASH. WE GAVE IT TO HER FOR CHRISTMAS. LAST FALL, KAREN WAS ADMITTED TO UC MEDICAL CENTER. THE DAY BEFORE SHE DIED, A NURSE ENTERED THE ROOM WEARING A UC SHIRT. THAT NURSE, STEPHANIE. NUFF SAID. SHE ATTENDED UC BLUE ASH, AND THANKS TO THE KAREN SANDERS SCHOLARSHIP, WAS ABLE TO BECOME A NURSE. AND I SAID, MY MOM IS KAREN SANDERS. EVERYBODY STARTED CRYING AND THE STEPHANIE HADN’T MADE THE CONNECTION BEFORE BECAUSE MY MOM’S FIRST NAME WAS DOLORES. SO THAT WAS ON ALL OF HER PAPERWORK AND ON HER CHARTS. SO STEPHANIE HAD BEEN CARING FOR THE WOMAN WHOSE SCHOLARSHIP SHE RECEIVED AND SHE DIDN’T KNOW IT. AND THEN TEARS STARTED IMMEDIATELY. NEFF SAYS THAT SCHOLARSHIP HELPED HER GET THROUGH A TIME THAT FELT NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. SO I ACTUALLY BECAME A SINGLE MOTHER. IN SEPTEMBER OF 2018. MY HUSBAND HAD ACTUALLY PASSED AWAY IN A CAR ACCIDENT, SO MY SON WAS FIVE MONTHS AT THAT TIME. NEFF NOW WORKS IN THE SAME HOSPITAL ON THE SAME FLOOR. HER HUSBAND WAS TREATED WHEN HE PASSED AWAY. THE NURSES AND THE DOCTORS SHOWED ME SO MUCH COMFORT, SO MUCH SUPPORT. I MEAN, THEY WERE OVER THE TOP, OVER THE TOP, AND I TOLD MYSELF THAT IF I’M GOING TO GO TO SCHOOL, I WANT TO MAKE SOMEBODY FEEL AS GOOD AS THEY DID WHEN I WAS THERE WITH THE TERRIBLE SITUATION. AND, YOU KNOW, LIFE BEING TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. KAREN PASSED AWAY JUST 18 HOURS AFTER SHE AND HER FAMILY MET STEPHANIE. KAREN’S LEGACY NOW LIVES ON IN THE MANY LIVES SHE TOUCHED THAT THIS CAN HELP THEM BE PART OF HER LEGACY, I THINK IS IS INCREDIBLE. IT’S COMPLETELY NATURAL TO BE SAD WHEN YOUR HERO DIES. BUT YOU DON’T QUIT. THE SISTERS WANT THIS SCHOLARSHIP TO CONTINUE IN THE FUTURE AND EVEN EXPAND TO HELP OTHER SINGLE MOMS IN THE AREA. SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE OR EVEN DONATE, YOU CAN DO SO ON OUR WEBSITE AT WLWT. COM LINDSAY STONE. WLWT NEWS FIVE. WHAT A SMALL WORLD STORY, FIRST OF ALL. BUT THEN WHEN YOU HEAR WHAT HAPPENED TO STEPHANIE WITH HER HUSBAND PASSING AWAY, YOU JUST WANT TO REACH OUT AND GIVE HER A HUG AND AND HELP HER OUT. THAT WAS JUST A TEAR JERKER. WE WEREN’T EXPECTING IT. NO, NOT AT ALL. TO. AND YOU’RE YOU’RE JUST THINKING. BUT GLAD THAT THEY WER