LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Hannah Everett is days away from graduating from the University of Kentucky's College of Nursing — a milestone that traces back to a cancer diagnosis she received as a child.
Everett was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in middle school. Everyday activities — school, gymnastics practice, even a trip to the grocery store — carried real risk. Her life was on pause.
"There's a scare of if you're gonna survive or not," Everett said.
Before her first round of chemotherapy, Everett said the only person who could calm her down was her nurse — one who had her own unexpected connection to the experience.
"She came in and asked how I was doing and I just kind of broke down and I was terrified. I told her that and she explained to me that she had actually been a patient on that exact floor a few rooms down when she was around my age," Everett said. "That experience alone shaped my future."
For the first time, someone understood what she was going through.
"I didn't have any friends that had been through anything similar to me at the time," Everett said.
Everett's battle with cancer didn't end there. She relapsed before her junior year of high school.
"So I mean there's always that fear in the back of your mind of, well, what if it happens again?" Everett said.
Her parents helped keep her grounded through the uncertainty.
"They frequently said don't worry about the what ifs," Everett said. "Focus on what's going on right now."
Now Everett is channeling both of those experiences into a career in pediatric oncology. She said her background as a patient gives her a unique ability to connect with the children she will one day care for.
"It's honestly in a sense great way to bond with your patient and honestly help them feel more comfortable and confident in the care that they're receiving. When they know that someone has received similar or the same care," Everett said.
Her journey through nursing school has earned her more than a diploma. Everett is also receiving the Maurice A. Clay Award, given to one exceptional graduating senior from each academic college at UK.
"To be able to look at the patient side and the nursing side and be able to tie the two together and hopefully that'll work well for me and my career in the future," Everett said.
"13-year-old me would be so proud to learn that she would be a nurse and hopefully help patients that are just like her," Everett said.
