VIV Moments

Hometown

Park City, UT

Joie de VIVre

Being a mom to my funny, smart, beautiful girls Sam, 3½, and Cate, 2, working as a veterinary ophthalmologist and being a medical director and board member of Eye Care for Animals, serving as a Board Member of Planned Parenthood Action Council, volunteering on the Development Committee of the American Animal Hospital Association Helping Pets Fund.

VIV Moment

When traveling in Peru with a team of ophthalmologists and mission workers to build a little hospital and school at a 14,000-foot village, I overheard a heated encounter on our way through Lima airport security.

The security officer was yelling at a tiny, young Quechua woman with a baby strapped to her back. She did not speak Spanish. As we had Quechua and Spanish interpreters with us I stepped up and asked if we could help.

The guard readjusted his gun and stared at me. He finally relented when they told him that I was a doctor and I would look at his eyes! The whole disagreement was about not letting this woman through security because she did not have the $3 fee. I gave it to the man, shined a flashlight in his eyes, and told him he looked great. I gave him a sample of tear lubricant drops and we were all let through security.

The Quechua woman later approached me with tears in her eyes. She had found someone to write me a note in English. She had traveled for weeks and spent all of her money and anything her family would give her to take her baby to the hospital in Lima. She didn’t have a penny left to pay the fee to get back through security and home. She was so grateful. It is an understatement but we are incredibly lucky. Now that I have children, thinking about his experience always makes me cry.

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