The force is strong in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center medical staff, who recently worked with a local move theater to coordinate a private screening of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," for a patient who has battled leukemia for nearly five years.
The patient, 22-year-old Natalie Seale, had been eagerly awaiting the release of the movie. After undergoing a bone marrow transplant to combat her T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in June 2015, she was told she would be unable to be in large crowds due to her weakened immune system.
One of Ms. Seale's nurses at Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt's Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital — Sarah Neumann, RN — took it upon herself to call a local movie theater to see what they could do to help her patient experience seeing the movie on the big screen.
"Cancer ruthlessly robs our patients of many things we can't control, so as a nurse, I feel that it is important to help patients maintain as much normalcy in life as possible to provide them with much deserved hope and joy during such a difficult time," said Ms. Neumann, who may just be a Jedi knight. Not even a battalion of stormtroopers could stop her from going above and beyond for her patient.
Ms. Neumann reached out to Regal Green Hills Stadium 16, a movie theater set in a galaxy not so far, far away. The theater's management set aside an entire theater for a private showing of the movie for Ms. Seale and 20 of her closest friends and family members.
"When I found out that my medical care team was working behind the scenes to set up this event, I was shocked! I couldn't believe that they would go out of their way to make me feel so special," Ms. Seale said. "I have been so blessed with the best doctors, nurses and caretakers."
Ms. Seale's illness and her experiences in the hospital have inspired her path in academia. This young Padawan, or Jedi-in-training, is currently working on a nursing degree at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., with a minor in Spanish.