Continued from Page 25 An Evening for Healers, the signature fund-raising event of the LSU Health Sciences Foundation, will be held at the Shreveport Convention Center with cocktails at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m.

“This started six years ago with the idea of how can we highlight the Health Sciences Center and the excellence that occurs within its walls to the community in a way that showcases what we do, teaches the community what our mission is and at the same time is a fund raiser,” said Kevin Flood, LSU Health Foundation executive vice president of development. “The response from the community has been incredible and has increased every year.”

More than 800 people attend the event each year, and the upcoming dinner is expected to be no different.

“I don’t know if it’s the largest sit-down fund raiser in the city, but it’s got to be one of them,” Flood said.

During the event, special videos will highlight the cases of Robert Jones, who was diagnosed with a tumor in his throat and lost his voice, and LSU School of Allied Health Professions faculty member Payton McCalmont, who suffered cardiac arrest during a lecture at LSU Health last April.

Jones was diagnosed about seven years ago in Marshall, Texas, and he was referred to Dr. Cherie-Ann Nathan, said Meg Willett of LSU Health. He received radiation and chemotherapy, and his voice box had to be rebuilt.

“They didn’t know if he’d be able to talk ever again,” Willett said. “His first words to his wife were, ‘I love you.’” In addition to honoring Nathan, the event will also recognize several other people who helped with Jones’ case.

“He still comes for follow-ups and is doing well,” Willett said. “That’s incredible.”

As for McCalmont’s story, “We had a feeling as soon as it happened that this would be one of the ones featured” at the event, Willett said.

McCalmont, a wife, mother of two small children and a physical therapist at the LSU School of Allied Health, received lifesaving CPR and defibrillator shock therapy April 23, 2015, as she was lecturing third-year medical students.

“I am told that I began the lecture by saying that I would try to keep our time spent together informal and laid-back. I couldn’t have been more wrong,” McCalmont said. “Within a few minutes of beginning the talk, I fell behind the podium and began having a seizure.”

It turned out that McCalmont was in cardiac arrest, and thanks to being in the right place at the right time, she was able to receive immediate care.

“Some students ran to a room close by to get surgery residents; some ran down the hall and found the crash cart with an AED; others called the code team,” McCalmont said. “I received one shock from an AED, or an automated external defibrillator.”

After her heart regained rhythm, McCalmont was just an elevator ride away from the University Health emergency department. She was in a medically-induced coma for two days, after which she woke up with no memory of the events that brought her to the hospital.

One week after the occurrence, McCalmont went home with an external defibrillator, or life vest. She has since undergone genetic testing and received an ICD, or internal defibrillator, which will provide a shock if she is ever in cardiac arrest again.

“I am happy to say that I am back to work at LSU and have returned in full force to my favorite job and most important job – being a mom,” she said.

Honorees for McCalmont’s case include faculty cardiology specialist Dr. Paari Dominic.

Honored healers will be presented with medallions to recognize their work.

The stories of McCalmont’s and Jones’ recoveries are just two in a sea of cases that show the advancements made at LSU Health, Flood said.

“There are no shortage of good stories,” he said. “It’s a difficult decision for us to make on what cases to highlight.”

The event will also honor a Community Hero who has had an impact on the area in a variety of ways.

“Each year we try to honor an individual who has had an impact on the community, been a community healer, a hero,” Flood said. “We talked about different honorees, and Dr. C.O. Simpkins’ name came up. It was almost a nobrainer.”

Simpkins, a longtime dentist, will be honored not just for his work in health care but his work with civil rights throughout the decades. Simpkins was a contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and was instrumental in bringing King to Shreveport during a time when there was a large push for equal rights with voter registration, Flood said.

“His life story is a great example and symbol for what we would like to see in everyone – a commitment to each individual person in the community and the rights that they have both in health-care and civil rights,” Flood said.

Betty and Dr. Bruce Henderson will chair the event, and Betty said she has been honored to participate, in large part because of the fact that her children have graduated from LSU and have experienced fi rsthand the top-notch education there.

“The monies raised are used in so many different capacities that add to the positive learning opportunities for the students and training, so we’ve been every year and I think it’s a wonderful program,” she said. “I’m proud to be here, and that they asked me [to chair].

“I’m so thankful that there’s such an unbelievable committee and staff that work on this – it takes a lot of folks to put on this event,” she said.

Tickets are $150 per person, with scholarships f rom $2 ,0 0 0. Br i a n Crawford of the city of Shreveport will serve as emcee for the evening.

Willis-Knighton Health System is the presenting sponsor. 

WANT TO GO?

For more information, contact Lindsay Brown, [email protected], 861-0855. Tickets and sponsorships are also available online at lsuhsfoundation.org/healers.

‘I AM TOLD THAT I BEGAN THE LECTURE BY SAYING THAT I WOULD TRY TO KEEP OUR TIME SPENT TOGETHER INFORMAL AND LAID-BACK; I COULDN’T HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG, WITHIN A FEW MINUTES OF BEGINNING THE TALK, I FELL BEHIND THE PODIUM AND BEGAN HAVING A SEIZURE.’

–PAYTON McCALMONT