Run for the Nurses

 

It was the worst day of my life. One moment I was safely cycling with my 18-year-old daughter; the next, I was kneeling beside her lifeless body. I was injured from head to foot after being struck from behind, but those wounds did not compare to the pain of losing my daughter Sophia.

Through the medical journey of trying to heal my damaged body, I have encountered an array of medical professionals, many of whom I never imagined I would have to face. Four hospitals, four surgeries, many surgeons, and appointments in multiple states, all in search of the best medical care for my situation. I have received great care at all the hospitals with the constant care being from the nurses who have been by my side.

Nurses have checked my vitals, prepped me for surgery, administered my medications, and kept other medical staff up to date on my situation. My care would have been incomplete without their amazing knowledge and actions throughout the past five years. Understanding that medical care involves more than my physical healing, I’ve had nurses hug my neck, shed a tear with me, pray for me, and make sure my immediate emotional needs were also addressed.

Nurses are the superheroes who wrap the wisdom of medicine with the care of humanity, meeting the needs of the entire person as they go.

My physical pain was constant since 2018, until healing from my last surgery – an amputation. And while I now fit the definition of someone having a disability, be assured, I am far less disabled today than I was a year and a half ago when my mobility consisted of a scooter or crutches.

I was told after the accident I would never run again. My ankle sustained too much damage to handle the stress caused by running. But now, with the absence of my damaged ankle, I can run!

So, I will Run for the Nurses! I will run in honor of those who work long shifts and extra hours ensuring their patients have the best care possible. I will run to support ABAC’s nursing students, so the next generation of nurses will be well equipped and trained. And I will run to prove miracles still happen!

Most everyone has been positively impacted by the life of a nurse. Will you honor them and join me in this race? This race takes place on Saturday morning, October 28, 2023, on the beautiful campus of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia. Runners can choose the 5K route that goes throughout campus or a half marathon that extends beyond campus into north Tifton.

If you can’t run, will you consider giving a donation to the School of Nursing to support ABAC’s students? You’ll have the opportunity to send in a photo of your favorite nurse and honor him or her while helping future nurses.

My life abruptly changed in a moment, and nurses have been aiding me regularly since that time. It is because of their care and support, I will run this race proving life can be recaptured and that life can be lived beautifully, even after tragedy.

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Five Years and Counting….

 

FIVE years without Sophia.

FOUR years of chronic pain.

THREE new daughters to love.

TWO prosthetic legs.

ONE year of learning life as an amputee….

I feel as though the countdown has finished, and now I’m blasting off into a second part of life. The past five years have been filled with many tears, much love, heartache, physical anguish, new family members, and feelings that encompass an entire spectrum of emotions.

The beginning into the next phase of life began with a beautiful dedication to Sophia. When traveling north from my home, I pass Willis Still Road where my beautiful daughter took her last breath - a place where I knelt over her body attempting to will, pray, and breathe life back into her body. That road evokes much emotion every time I pass by it.

This past Saturday Georgia Representative Clay Pirkle presented our family a copy of House Resolution 256 dedicating the intersection of Willis Still Road and Highway I-75 as the “Sophia Ruth Fisher Interchange.”  

Denise and Melissa, two close friends for decades, went with me in March to the State Capitol where Representative Pirkle hosted us for the day. My friends, who have prayed for me and carried me through these years with grace and compassion, held my hands while those on the House floor and others of us in the gallery stood as the Resolution was read, not only honoring Sophia, but other Georgians.

So now, added signs at the intersection will help add a smile to the tears that are normally present when I drive by on the highway. It is an honor to know Sophia’s name is written down for all to either remember her or wonder who she is.

I know this life will never be like it looked five years ago. But it can be – and is – good again! While people have left the family circle, there are others who entered. And while no one can ever take the place of someone else, it’s wonderful to have more filled seats at the table, noise around the house, and extra laundry and dirty dishes when company leaves.

These years filled with adversities may have taken me down for a season, but now I have a mantle to take up and share. I have physical goals set, political positions to help advocate, speaking engagements scheduled, and family plans for keeping my precious family knitted together.

There’s a lot of fight left in me; a lot of things left to accomplish.

I honestly don’t know if I am trying to now make up for lost time or the fact that I KNOW life is short, but I am attacking life with a vengeance and working through all those items I want to accomplish and conquer! God spared my life – there is truly no reason I should be alive, much less being able to do the things I am now doing pain free – so I plan to make each moment count.

As the countdown to this season seems to be over, new life is appearing. And I’m excited to see where this life will lead me.

 

Leaving Her Mark

It was on Mother’s Day 2018 after church and a wonderful lunch, the children that were home, plus a niece I claim as a bonus daughter, went around the table to say what they loved about me, at the prompting of my then husband. It was a sweet gesture, and the only fanfare made on my behalf that day. I was a little upset but used to it at this point since that was normal for Mother’s Day.

This year, however, Sophia was 18 and could tell that my feelings were hurt. I love to celebrate all types of events from a baptism to Eagle Scout, from birthdays to graduations. Give me an event, and I’ll throw a party! But it was rarely reciprocated and since I wasn’t my husband’s mother, Mother’s Day was not considered a big deal.

Just a few days later Sophia showed up with the sweetest gifts: a sign I have in my office, a picture that talks about a mother’s love, and a gift certificate for me to get a pedicure. While I had tried to hide my disappointment that Mother’s Day, she was maturing to the point she could read beyond my words.

It was on the gift card envelope that she wrote: “Just Because; I love you; Sophia” with a heart. I’m quite certain this was the last note she wrote to me before she passed away, and so I chose her words to be placed on my latest socket. 

In my mind, the process of how to make her writing appear on my prosthetic would be difficult, but knowing the right people is the key to making things happen! So, at church I hit up Scott Beasley and Kenny Barfield from The Trophy Shop of Tiftarea and pitched them the idea. As people around them were stacking our sanctuary chairs, Scott and Kenny began to speak to each other in a computer and graphic language I was unfamiliar, and then turn to me and said, “Yeah, we can do that; shouldn’t be a problem!”

After proofs back and forth and measurements from my prosthetist Andrew, they manufactured the cloth with her handwriting, her last written words of love for me. Words that were written from a place of maturity. Since we had many of the same traits – stubborn, strong willed, opinionated – we butted heads like many mothers and daughters do, but we had reached a really good place of enjoying each other’s company. Oh yes, we still drove each other crazy at times, but we had begun to understand each other better.

I said after the accident when my ankle healed, I was going to get a tattoo on it, so I could share my story with others. Never did I imagine I would have the ankle removed, and a prosthetic would be my constant reminder and my gateway into sharing my story with others.

Saturday, February 4, I will run with Sophia’s words for my first 5K as an amputee. It’s not easy running as an amputee. In fact, every new thing I do – from bowling to climbing – feels extremely weird and takes quite some time to seem somewhat normal.

After skiing at Christmas, I realized my limb was capable of handling the force of my body weight, and so I immediately hit the track at home getting ready for 3.1 miles. I’ve added distance each week while keeping the same, very slow, pace.

This will be a run/walk event for me with four of my children by my side in this next adventure. In fact, they are my pit crew, much like one at Nascar. I will have to stop, remove my prosthetic, add more socks to my limb, place back on the prosthetic, and keep running. It quite possibly could make a good comedy routine!

Maybe as people pass me in the race, they can read the words, ponder what the story might be, and think of someone whom they love dearly and who left a mark in their lives.

Sophia unquestionably left her mark in my and others’ lives, and her last written words are ones I will always treasure. I hope and pray her words and our story will leave a positive message of love and hope in the years - and miles - to come.