ER Staff, First Responders in Texas Pull Together to Aid Nurse

July 10--It's been just about one week since a Covenant Emergency Room nurse was diagnosed with cancer progressed to Stage IV.

It's taken even less time for ER staff and other first responders -- past and present -- to create shirts, organize a barbecue and run to Kim Bradley's side.

"She's probably one of the most loved people ever," said Kim Dalby, one of Bradley's friends and co-workers during a phone interview Wednesday morning. "She's my best friend."

On Thursday, Covenant ER staff will be selling lunch plates for $5 and T-shirts with "Team Kim B." for $20 to raise money for one of their own.

The menu includes hamburgers, hotdogs, desserts and donated candy bars, Dalby said.

Bradley has worked in Covenant's emergency room since 2006, said Vanessa Milam, a friend and co-worker of Bradley.

During her eight years on staff, Bradley has touched many lives, including Milam's and Dalby's.

Dalby was already working in the Covenant ER department when Bradley came on staff.

After the death of Dalby's husband, who died of brain cancer, she and Bradley became very close. Dalby became Bradley's mentor.

"She's the funniest, goofiest woman you'll ever meet," Dalby said.

As Bradley continued to get settled into her job, she acquired a mentee of her own.

"I started here about six years ago," Milam said. "She was working as one of our ER technicians. I was a nurse technician. She was my mentor. When you meet Kim, you can't help but be friends with her. She's so funny. This place that we work in is such a serious place. A lot goes on here. She is one of those people that shows you how to take it in stride, keep smiling and keep working."

Nohemi Sanchez, Bradley's friend and former ER nurse, said she became friends with Bradley as soon as Bradley first began work in the ER.

"From the day that I met her, we bonded," Sanchez said. "We became really good friends. She's very kind-hearted. She's got a spirit and energy. She's so much fun."

The ER unit is a bit separated from the rest of the hospital, Dalby said. Working in what Dalby calls a "controlled chaos" environment for an average 12 hours at a time helps co-workers develop bonds beyond friendship, she said.

"We're a big family in the ER department," Sanchez said. "I don't work there full time anymore. I still work there part time. I feel like they're my second family. It's hard for people to understand that. We work so closely together that we have a bond with each other. It's not just a working relationship. It's seriously a bond that you can't describe. ... It's not your immediate family, but they are. It's so hard for me to describe."

When nausea began accompanying the back pain in her lower right side, Bradley sought a doctor's advice for relief, Milam said.

"We wanted to figure out what was going on," Milam said. "She wasn't feeling good. ... So we went ahead and saw her as a patient."

When Milam got to work July 3, Bradley was already checked in and waiting for her results.

"She came out of the room and was in big tears," Milam said.

A tumor was found on her kidney and it looked serious, Dalby said.

Bradley was referred to another doctor to go over results and help plan the next move, Dalby said.

The next day, Dalby accompanied her friend to the doctor's office and helped share the devastating news with other ER staff.

Bradley's tumor was Stage IV and the best option was surgery, but the chances of survival are at a low percentage, Dalby said.

"She's going to have to have surgery," Milam said. "... She may or may not make it."

When her "second family" was notified, shock overwhelmed the ER staff, Dalby said. Bradley had been in good health before the news.

"It's kind of like the wind had been knocked out of us," Dalby said. "We do things outside of the ER with each other, with each other's families. It was a punch in the gut. It was awful."

Friends such as Sanchez immediately reached out with prayers and began working on ways to help.

Sanchez's granddaughter was diagnosed with cancer when she was 19 months.

"I know how that feeling is, when you hear that nasty word 'cancer,' " Sanchez said. "It sucks the life out of you. But there are cancer survivors. You can fight it."

People beyond the walls of the Covenant ER wasted no time to begin organizing Thursday's event for Bradley, Dalby said.

"It was actually my husband," Dalby said. "He's with the Lubbock Fire Department Station 4. He called Chad Curry with EMS and had it done within an hour."

This isn't the first time ER employees have pulled together to help one of their own, Sanchez said. Last week, a benefit was held for another ER nurse, Philip Bellah, who was also diagnosed with cancer.

Thursday's event will specifically benefit Bradley, but another benefit is scheduled to benefit both Bradley and Bellah on Aug. 10.

Funds from the food plates and T-shirts on Thursday will go toward Bradley's medical bills and supporting her family, Milam said. On Wednesday afternoon, Milam said a separate fund will soon be set up at Prosperity Bank under the name of Bradley's husband, Donnie Bradley.

"We wanted to pull together and do something to help raise money," Milam said. "If everything works out, it's going to be a long road for her. She has two kids, a husband and two grandkids. She also takes care of her mother. She's a hard worker. We just wanted to do everything we can to help."

ellysa.gonzalez@lubbockonline.com

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