Everyone who walks the halls of Primary Children’s Hospital has a story. Many are hopeful. Others are emotional. All are inspiring. That’s why when StoryCorps approached the hospital about participating in its Legacy Project, we were eager to participate.
During a three-month period staff members helped record the stories of current and former patients and their families. All of the recordings will be housed in the Library of Congress. Some might even air on National Public Radio. But for these families the interviews meant much more than air time.
The first interview recorded as part of the project involved one of our own. An employee, her husband, and son shared the emotional journey of their son and brother passing away from cancer at a young age. Before the interview the family wasn’t sure what it would be like to share such a personal experience, but afterward they said it brought them closer. For this family the StoryCorps project was therapeutic.
Sadie’s Story
Other families found it insightful, like this story we share of Sadie NewMyer. The 8-year-old from Idaho went from healthy to needing a liver transplant in just a few weeks. During the interview Sadie told her parents’ Dave and Kim what scared her the most about being in the hospital and shared the two things that made it a little easier to be a patient.
Nearly two years post-transplant, Sadie is thriving! She is the math coach in her second grade class and loves to read. She enjoys riding her bike when the weather is warm. She plays outside, enjoys her friends and family, and takes just two types of medications daily. Already planning for the future, Sadie would like to become either a rock star or a doctor who invents a way to make shot not hurt.
*Produced by Sandra Orton, Communications Specialist, with interviews recorded at Primary Children’s on behalf of StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. Storycorps.org.
