Brian Frampton
Ever since I was a young man, I've had an interest in medicine. I became an EMT in Arizona at the age of 18 and immensely enjoyed the opportunities I received as a result. I ended up joining the Navy however and rather than training me in the medical field I was trained as an Electronics Technician. When I got sick with my cardiomyopathy and the Navy separated me from the service I needed to find employment that would immediately allow me to support my family. Thus, for all of my adult life I have been working in Electronics, Engineering and Management. I always used to tell myself that at some point I'd return to college and get my nursing degree and do something that I really loved. As my illness progressed and my heart deteriorated further all thoughts of continuing my education were gone and I was consumed simply with the process of staying alive. I received my heart transplant on May 9th 2007 at Stanford University and it has completely changed my life. While I returned to my job in engineering management only 5 months after transplant, my heart wasn't and isn't, "in it" so to speak. My illness if nothing else taught me that tomorrow is not guaranteed and that the opportunity to pursue your dreams should be seized with every ounce of strength. I've recently returned to school and am completing my pre-requisites to apply for nursing programs in spring 2010.
I'm so committed at this point that I'll be applying to several colleges here in the Seattle area where I live as well as Arizona, Missouri and California and will move wherever is required to attend nursing school. My ultimate goal is to become a Nurse Anesthetist with perhaps a permanent stop along the way as a transplant coordinator of some kind. On Feb 2nd 2008, my mother had an aneurysm burst deep in her brain at the internal carotid artery. She suffered a massive stroke. It was of course devastating for our entire family as she was only 53. The Neurosurgeon who treated my mother had just returned from successful pancreatic transplant of his own, and I was a little less than 1 yr post transplant. The doctor brought up the idea of transplant and though it was a painful situation the decision itself was quite simple for my family and I. My mother donated all that she could and to my knowledge there is a woman living now in the mid-west with her liver. I believe that I have much to offer the transplant community with my experiences having been on both sides of the process and I would consider it an honor to be able to help others as I was helped by my transplant coordinator and the entire medical team that cared for me. So, if I were to win, the money would be used towards tuition, fees and books in support of my dream of becoming a nurse.
