Published May 15, 2025
Carol Blackburn of Ledyard – a patient for 10 months at the L+M Wound & Hyperbaric Center in Waterford – surprised staff on the last day of her treatment by presenting the center with a bell, something she hopes many other patients will ring in celebration of healing.
“I wanted to thank the entire team, because my care was phenomenal. By the end, the staff were like friends, like family,” Blackburn said. “I also wanted other people to have that same excitement when they walk out of here.”
Blackburn said her husband rang the gong after completing treatment at Smilow Cancer Hospital in Waterford.
“It was very powerful, so I wanted others to have that, too,” she said. “When you ring the bell and walk out healed, it’s like, ‘My life is starting again!’”
The bell has also been a morale booster for caregivers like Meg Wallace, APRN, who oversaw much of Blackburn’s care. “In terms of promoting the healing aspects of health care, I think the bell speaks to our entire organization,” Wallace said. “It speaks to the concept of encouraging patients and empowering them to seek good health.
“When we heal people, those patients get to go out and do the same things as other healthy people, and that’s such a big part of what life is all about,” Wallace added. “In the simplest form of achieving dreams and wishes, that’s what we do for people. As healthcare providers, we give back joy.”
