Everything can change within the blink of an eye. One night a 12-year-old Cheryl Waltman looked outside her window to see police having an impossible conversation with her parents, according to Fox News. It turned out that Cheryl's older sister, 16-year-old Renee Beaulieu, was driving in her car when the unthinkable happened.
"Her car kind of swerved on a straightaway and hit a tree and a stone wall, and then it flipped," Cheryl explains in the video below, posted on December 19th, 2016.
Right after the harrowing crash, Renee was then airlifted by Life Star, a critical care helicopter, over to Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.
"She was very avid on being an organ donor," Cheryl says of her sister.
In a bittersweet moment, Renee passed away, but gave life to others through her donation.
Ever since that day, Cheryl became entirely invested in her sister's experience and decided to pursue a career in the medical field. She started off as a hospital volunteer in college.
"I started fluffing pillows at a local ER and offering magazines and kind of watching what people were doing," Cheryl recalls.
She soon moved on to become a physician's assistant on an ambulance, becoming more involved with medical practice. One day, her future husband set up her transition to the "ride-along" title on a Life Star helicopter, just like the one that tried to keep her sister alive after her car accident.
Cheryl, now a mother, cares for patients before and after liver transplants at Hartford Hospital. Cheryl and Renee were childhood dancers, which inspired Cheryl to compete in Donate Life Connecticut's Dancing for Donations Gala. By doing so, Cheryl plans to raise awareness for organ donation as well as remember her sister.
Please SHARE Cheryl's journey in honoring her sister with your friends and family!
Image Source: Flickr / torbakhopper
