When a tragedy happens, you can do one of two things: (A) Feel sorry for yourself, become bitter and of ill resolve, or (B) Pick yourself up, be grateful you’re still alive and use what you’ve learned to help others.
Fourth-year UTMB medical student Brittany Graham and her brother Gabriel chose the latter and, with the help of many, turned their childhood tragedy into an act of service.
When Gabriel was just 3 years old he suffered second- and third-degree burns after accidentally falling into a pile of hot embers at his family’s home in Vidor, Texas.
“My father didn’t have insurance so we were turned away by hospitals in Beaumont and told to come to Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston,” said Brittany. Although Brittany was only 6 years old she can still remember the experience vividly.
“It was very traumatic,” she said. “We had to travel to Shriners every other day the first month and twice per week the second month [a two-hour drive, one-way].” For the Graham family, the traveling back and forth and the emotional toll of their baby boy’s pain was a trial.
Once Gabriel was released from the hospital, his family continued his debridement at home — an often painful procedure for burn patients, in which the dead or damaged skin is removed to allow the healthy tissue to heal. “I can still remember his cries from the pain,” said Brittany.
Gabriel was so moved by the kind treatment he received by the physicians at Shriners (who are UTMB faculty), that he became a regular volunteer there as a teenager. And Brittany soon followed.
“Once I became a medical student at UTMB, I knew I had to give back,” she said.
Brittany learned that the majority of Shriners patients are foreigners from Spanish-speaking countries. She remembered how daunting and stressful her brother’s experience was for her family.
“I thought of how scary it must be for a family from a foreign country who are miles from home and can’t even speak the language,” said Brittany. “I had to do something about it.”
Brittany envisioned hosting fun events for the patients and their families, where they could speak in their native tongue and take their minds off their worries for a while.
“The goal was also to help medical students to learn to become more empathetic and compassionate in their work,” she said.
Brittany reached out to UTMB’s Latino Medical Student Association community service chairman Pablo Padilla and Dr. Norma Perez, executive director of the Hispanic Center of Excellence, for volunteers to help make her dream a reality. Through her brother’s contacts from his volunteer work at the hospital, she got Shriners’ blessings. Next, all she needed were the funds to make her events come to life.
Armed with passion and a dream, Brittany applied for the John P. McGovern Student Award in Oslerian Medicine. To her delight and honor she received the prestigious award in July 2013 and became an Osler Student Scholar. As a scholar she petitioned the academy for funding to start the organization — and the Shriner’s Project was born. The hospital held its first event in October 2013, with seven volunteers, including Perez, Padilla, and her brother Gabriel. They had 20 attendees and it was a success.
Patients and families enjoyed prizes, food and games at the Halloween-themed event, which included a fun game of loteria — the Spanish version of bingo. Most importantly the patients and their families were able to speak with people in Spanish.
“Brittany’s volunteers provided much-needed bilingual skills for these patients’ family members,” said Perez. “As a clinician in Mexico, I often referred patients to Shriners and our Shriners hospital here in Galveston has a very high Spanish-speaking patient population.”
Month after month the volunteers and attendees continued to grow. Within three months the volunteers and attendees doubled. By April 2014 the Shriner’s Project became an official UTMB organization and changed its name to Students Serving Shriners.
“Getting the organization going was truly a team effort,” Brittany said. She credits Padilla, who is now the Students Serving Shriners vice president, and Daniel Varela, the group’s event coordinator, for their hard work in getting the organization started.
Since its inception, the organization has held an event each month without fail. While the volunteer group initially consisted of only students from the School of Medicine, it now includes students from UTMB’s School of Nursing and School of Health Professions.
“We’ve grown from seven volunteers at our first event to 100 in less than two years,” said Brittany. The group plans to keep growing by adding more students from other disciplines and expanding their volunteerism to include bi-weekly visits to the young patients.
“I feel when I interact with these burn victims and their families I am able to make them feel at home and forget all their hardships,” said Varela.
Brittany is graduating from UTMB this spring and will begin her pediatrics residency at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, working at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and Le Bonheur Hospital in the summer. She and her brother Gabriel will continue as the co-founders of the organization and Padilla will become president.
This spring the group will host its first fundraising effort. If you are interested in contributing to the organization or joining as a volunteer, send an email to StudentsServingShriners@gmail.com.