Inspirational Stories

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, people all over the country are coming together to help those who help us – nurses and health-care workers on the front lines.

Mary and Doug Taylor dusted off old photo albums, flipping through photos from their wedding 52 years ago. Susan Nadel showed off crocheted animals she made herself, each one representing a beloved pet that she and her husband Doug owned over the years. Together, Cathy Parrish Jones and her mother, Hattie, created a time capsule and virtual timeline of Hattie’s life.

As a global logistics provider of equipment for major concerts, sporting events, television, and the film industry, Stephen O’Connell knows how to move things fast.

Kim Spancake and her husband, Drew Snider, understand the crucial importance of health care workers. When their 13-year-old daughter, Addie, was born, she was eight weeks early and only weighed two pounds, seven ounces. Addie spent six weeks at the Duke Regional Special Care Nursery (SCN), growing stronger and healthier under the care of the team there.

When COVID-19 arrived on American shores and exploded across the country within a matter of weeks, researchers across Duke hastened into action. Duke scientists in fields from microbiology and molecular genetics to pediatrics and surgery are racing to try to understand this exceptionally complex virus and develop approaches to defeat it.

On May 1, 2020, MIX 101.5 WRAL-FM hosted an on-air fundraiser and teamed up with local businesses 919-Fix-MyAC and The Carolina Ale House of Durham to bring 160 lunches to healthcare providers at Duke Children's.

Steve and Lisa Eisenstein, P’19, P’22, are no strangers to supporting good causes—and not just by opening their wallets. They are active in various philanthropic organizations, including one that helps people rebuild homes after hurricanes and other natural disasters.

When facing an illness such as ALS, one in which there currently is no proven treatment to stop or reverse it, patients often look to clinical trials for options for living longer and better lives.

As teams throughout Duke’s hospitals, clinics, and research labs actively monitor and respond to the developing COVID-19 pandemic, Duke Health’s COVID-19 Response Fund to support the area of greatest need has received a generous gift from the Biogen Foundation.

Dr. Kristin Schroeder and her team in the Duke Global Health Institute have been working in Mwanza, Tanzania, to improve outcomes for children with cancer. They are finding that success is not always a matter of resources or equipment, but in finding creative ways to overcome the roadblocks that keep families from accessing cancer care.