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Six ICU nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital are running this year’s Boston Marathon in honor of their patients. Each nurse helped care for some of the victims of last year’s tragedy, and are running to celebrate and honor their patients’ courage and lives.
The Boston Herald reports that nurse Chelsey McGinn admitted she was shaking when she decided to take one of the last spots on the running team. “This outlet was kind of presented to me, and I’m just so happy,” McGinn told the Herald. “It’s been really therapeutic. This is probably going to be the only marathon I run. To be able to do it with five of my co-workers who are going through the same things — I can’t imagine doing it any other way.”
Of the six nurses running, only one, Meredith Salony, has experience with marathons. The others — McGinn, Katherine Pyrek, Emily Erhardt, Allyson Mendonza and Laura Lux — are first-time participants. “If I’m having a hard week or a bad run, I think back to last year and what we went through, and it really gives me the motivation to complete whatever we need to complete,” Pyrek said.
The nurses hope that their own act of running inspires others and honors their patients. “We’ve seen people go through things people shouldn’t have to go through and come out on top and still live normal happy lives,” Erhardt said. “They’re doing it. If they can do it, then so can we, and we can do it for them. Hopefully they know how they impacted our lives.”
Watch a video of the nurses explaining why they’re running:
Nurses, have you ever run a marathon in honor of a patient? Or done something similar? Tell us your stories in the comments below.
Source: Boston Herald
