Love To The Rescue! Meet Dr. Kristen L. Carroll
N ot all superheroes wear capes. Nowhere is this statement more obvious than at Shriners Hospitals for Children. Through the Precious Moments partnership with this outstanding organization, you have been introduced to some pretty amazing patients. Recently we caught up with Dr. Kristen L. Carroll, pediatric orthopaedic surgeon and chief of staff of Shriners Hospitals for Children – Salt Lake City. She is also professor of orthopaedics at the University of Utah. W hen Dr. Carroll first began as an attending physician, she worked in private practice and at Shriners part-time. She soon discovered that she preferred to work in a hospital setting where the billing of patients was taken out of the care equation. Since Shriners Hospitals is a non-profit organization running on the generosity of donors, the parents of her young patients know that the physician/patient relationship is very pure – not hindered by insurance or billing concerns. There is no underlying drive; the only motivation is the well-being of the child. “At Shriners I can interact on a level I ammuch more comfortable with. It doesn’t matter if I’m on their insurance panel or not. I think parents feel like they can trust my judgment because we aren’t making a profit,” Dr. Carroll explains. A s an attending surgeon at Shriners since 1996, Dr. Carroll has helped more patients than she can count. Often she receives cards and letters from these precious young people and she treasures each one. A couple of years ago, a young lady named Brooklyn came under her care for a serious ATV accident in which both of her legs were broken. This past February, Brooklyn was in for a follow up and Dr. Carroll was moved by an extraordinary gesture. “This brave young lady, only 13-years old, was doing great. At the end of her visit, her Dad said, ‘go ahead and give her your present.’ This incredible girl hands me a check for $15,000! She had won a settlement from the ATV company and decided to donate the check to the hospital!” Brooklyn stated that if it was not for the care she received, she could have been an amputee, so she wanted the money to go towards Shriners Un-limb-ited Amputee Activity Camp. This camp offers a unique opportunity for high school kids from ages 13-17 with amputation, encouraging them to better understand the use of their prosthetics through activities and sports.
Dr. Carroll. Photo courtesy of Shriners Hospitals for Children.
I n addition to her work in Salt Lake City, Dr. Carroll also heads down to El Paso, Texas four times per year to do a clinic. Sometimes this clinic is the only care these kids are receiving. Dr. Carroll embodies what makes Shriners so special and what makes the partnership with Precious Moments so natural. “The mission of Precious Moments is nearly identical to ours,” she says. “There is lots of love from everyone who works here, from the folks cleaning the floor to the attending surgeon.” W hen you make a donation, or purchase a Shriners Hospitals for Children Precious Moments figurine or ornament, you are helping many doctors just like Dr. Carroll and amazing kids like Brooklyn. Their superpowers lie in the love, compassion and mutual respect they share, and nothing is more powerful when it comes to healing children.
Surrounded With Love 179707 | $30.99
Love To The Rescue 163017 | $50.99
Precious Moments will donate 5% of the proceeds from the sale of each “Love To The Rescue” figurine and “SurroundedWith Love” ornament to Shriners Hospitals for Children to provide life-changing specialty care, regardless of the family’s ability to pay. These pieces are available at a Precious Moments retailer near you and at PreciousMoments.com.
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