“Ultimately, if these plans are not what God has in store for me then I will strive to succeed in the field I am placed.”
Who amongst us at 18 could already be living our lives with such clarity? Well, let me introduce you to Palmer Richardson, the young woman that included that statement in the “personal goals” section of her Bootstraps application.
Palmer came to join us in Nashville as a sophomore, attending David Lipscomb. But, the path that brought her to us was not one of joy. Palmer was here because a year earlier, her family had to choose Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital as the place to give their daughter a highly dangerous yet life-saving bone marrow replacement treatment for her second — yes, I did say second — bout of cancer.
This treatment would require her to take drugs that would ultimately require that both of her hips and shoulder be replaced. To walk with crutches for over a year. To have her family completely uproot from their home in Arkansas to provide her the care she needed.
But, did all of this stop Palmer? Not a chance. This young girl has spent the past three years doing mission work in Germany, teaching Sunday school, visiting with children at Vanderbilt Children’s hospital and shadowing the physicians that saved her life as she prepares for her chosen path of becoming a nurse.”
“An angel on earth” –that’s how Lisa Bruce, her school counselor describes Palmer. And you know, after hearing her story. I think it’s a fit.
