The recipients of the 2018 Barbara Chatfield Award for Academic Excellence will be announced at the Taste of Utah on November 3, 2018. Their names and a short biography also are available on the previous post on this blog. The awardees were carefully chosen based on their admirable achievements in pursuing their academic dreams. Applicants were also given an option to contribute their thoughts about Barb; these were not considered as part of the selection process. As evidenced by their touching words below, Barb played an important role in their lives. Dr. Chatfield would be so proud of their achievements!
“Ever since I was two years old and first diagnosed Dr. Chatfield has always been a major part of my life and my success as a teenager and individual. Dr.Chatfield was the one who told me that I could be anybody that I wanted to be, and that CF would not control my life. She was and will always be someone I can look back and know she always believed in me. Because of her faith in my future, my parents and I created a life beyond CF. She always said that I would be like a normal person, just a little more high maintenance. I have been able to accomplish being active since the beginning of my diagnosis, starting out as a dancer, an AYSO soccer player, a tumbler, a gymnast, a ninth grade cheerleader for my junior high, and returning to dance and being a leader for my high school drill team. Cystic Fibrosis has not restricted me from any of my passions, and if anything has pushed to do better. Dr. Chatfield’s words have allowed me to focus on how healthy I must remain, which is why throughout my fifteen years of being diagnosed I have only missed two therapy sessions in my life. She inspires me to be an example to others with CF, by having my parents talk to other CF parents, and inviting me to participate in being part of the new CF DVD to share with others how I go about my day-to-day life. She also has inspired me to be an example to those without CF and to embrace who I am, by allowing others to see my day-to-day routine, from taking my pills to doing my therapy sessions twice a day, and building a strong support group of friends who accept me for who I am. I will always be grateful of her wanting to know me as an individual and not just as a patient, she is somebody who will always be a part of my life, as I achieve my goals of being successful in my career, because she believed in me and my BRIGHT future. She is and will always be a strong influence in my life, and she is and will always be greatly missed.
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“Dr. Chatfield was my doctor for as long as I can remember and she made it a place to remember. She was always there for me and helped see things from my perspective. She is a huge part of my family. The hole that she left will never be filled.”
“At the age of eight I found out that I had Cystic Fibrosis. I didn’t understand what it was or why I suddenly had to go to appointments at primary children’s hospital. I don’t remember much of my first few years dealing with the disease, because it wasn’t until I was 13 that it had gotten worse and I now needed more treatments and medicines. But I do remember Dr. Chatfield. Each appointment I sat in a room where it felt like a million different people were walking in and out, making me fill out forms with big words, and saying things I never really understood. I never could remember any of their names or their purpose but I always remembered Dr. Chatfield. I knew every appointment I could look forward to a familiar face. Although some days I worried and dreaded her arrival, because it often seemed she always had bad news for me, but despite that she always displayed a sense of Hope. I also really appreciated her because she was real, and she was real and honest with me even at a young age. All the other doctors treated me as if I was a baby that was perfectly fine, but she showed me I wasn’t and because of her I was tough in accepting the disease I had. It was hard when one day she was no longer apart of my visits, but by this time I had grown and her strength and hope had stuck, so I felt okay. I felt okay to continue on with the life I had been given. I will always appreciate the care she provided for me and my younger brother, who also has CF.
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“Dr. Chatfield has been in my life since the day I was diagnosed. I am as healthy as I am today due to her guidance throughout my life. She is greatly missed among our family.”
“Dr. Chatfield played a huge role in my life. As long as I can remember, I have been going to the CF clinic. When my family moved to Utah when I was one, she was obviously a huge help to me but more importantly, she was a strength to my parents in a hard and confusing time. She was such a light in the CF community and we knew we had someone who cared, someone who loved us, and someone who would never stop advocating for us.”