恢复，精神和光明

你可以描述 Quisi Rodriguez-Oregel“21 还有她的双胞胎妹妹 心 as typical 贝洛伊特 students: bright, involved, 和 well-known on campus. 奎西以优异的成绩毕业 国际关系专业 未成年人 西班牙语 和 人类学, a senior class officer, McNair Scholar, 和 an active participant in various student organizations.

Friends Kiara Davis’21, Quisi, Aryssa Harris’21, 和 Sophie Glaubius’21.In 2019, a 贝洛伊特 sopho更多的 shadowing program l和ed the twins in Denver, Colorado to meet 本加62 — a former football 和 basketball player 和 member of the ’89 Council — 和 his wife Jean, 她在奥罗拉的家是婚外情者的聚集地. After hosting Quisi 和 心 和 introducing them 和 their cohort to businesses, 非营利组织, 以及其他工作场所, 本和珍保持联系. When Quisi decided to move to Denver to pursue her master’s in 人类学, 加洛韦一家是她第一个打电话的人.

“她把我们当作大家庭，”琼说. (奎西和齐姆里现在称她为吉恩奶奶.“我们帮她安顿下来. 我把她介绍给一些人, 确保她熟悉公共交通系统, 给她买了辆自行车. 她变得几乎像我们自己的孙女了. We looked after her until I had a sense that she was comfortable 和 making friends at the University of Denver, where she was focusing on her master’s 和 assisting a couple of professors.”

A few months went by without any news, which Jean took as a sign that Quisi was feeling settled. 8月. 29, 珍接到了心的电话, who told her that Quisi had been hit by a bus while walking to school. 公共汽车继续行驶, 轮胎碾过她不止一次，而是两次, fracturing ribs 和 dozens of other bones throughout her body.

Quisi was rushed to Denver Health where she began the first of 12 手术. 医务人员不确定她是否能活下来. 奎西第一次被送进医院时是醒着的, but spent the better part of the next two weeks highly sedated, 无意识的, 对抗感染.

贝洛伊特ers立即介入. 本和琼提出要招待奎西的母亲, 马里Oregel, 谁从英格尔伍德来的, 加州, 照顾奇思, 还有心和她的未婚夫Alex, 从芝加哥来的人. “我们成了一家人，”琼说. “我们的房子成了他们的家外之家.”

马里 had heard of Jean 和 Ben’s kindness from her daughters years ago, but was nonetheless amazed by their generosity 和 hospitality. “The first day I met Jean, I went to her house 和 I stayed there,” says 马里. “She said, ‘I don’t know you, but I feel like I know you because of Quisi 和 心.第二天早上, 当我醒来, 她已经给我做了早餐, 给我和基西做了午餐和饼干.”

本经常载玛丽贝尔去医院, 探视时间结束后, 当她回家时，他和琼会去迎接她. 他们轮流拜访奎西, 给她带礼物和鲜花, 基西在丹佛大学的教授们也是如此. “My eyes would get teary from the amount of care 和 love Jean showed,” says 马里. “她有一颗伟大的心，她就像地球上的天使.”

加洛韦夫妇与贝洛伊特的关系还不止于此. 丹佛健康中心的前医生, Ben had worked with the trauma surgeon who was on call for Quisi’s first surgery 和 knew other members of the trauma team. When 马里 told Ben one day that she was worried about Quisi’s fever 和 chills, Ben contacted the team to ask them to check her for infection.

Ben 和 Jean had already planned to fly to their alma mater for 贝洛伊特er Days in late September 和 they didn’t want 马里 to be home alone. 令人惊讶的是，他们已经熟悉 Dr. 康妮·萨瓦·普莱斯，91年他恰好是丹佛健康中心的首席医疗官. They asked if she could be 马里’s point of contact in case she had any questions.

这是真正的贝洛伊特风格, Connie then offered her own home — 和 an almost nightly ritual of talking about the day over a glass of wine — to 马里 while the Galloways were away.

“Connie greeted me with a hug as if I were a relative she hadn’t seen in a long time,” says 马里.

Quisi was determined to attend her twin’s wedding in Chicago at the end of October. 马里和心想让她的情绪高涨, but knew that her care team didn’t expect her to be discharged for at least another few weeks.

“The doctors would ask how she felt, 和 she’d say her pain was one or zero,” says 马里. “With all her injuries, there’s no way she would have been feeling good. That’s when I thought she was going to be out of there sooner. 她做了所有的事. Her body was responding well to treatments because she was so positive 和 strong.”

经过一个半月的测试, 手术, 物理治疗课程, 心理健康检查, 每天的医学奇迹, 基西于10月出院, 比医生和护士最初预计的要早几周. 那天晚上, 康妮接待了奎西, 马里, 和加洛韦一家共进晚餐, 为吉恩所说的“奎西的完美康复”干杯, 精神, 和光线.”

Quisi (right) 和 Perci (left) at their sister 心's wedding.令大家惊喜的是, Connie presented Quisi with a floor-length black gown — something she says she had in her closet that she thought might work for the wedding. 非常合适. Quisi attended 心’s wedding in the black dress, a wheelchair, 和 wearing a boot on one foot. Connie shared the good news with Quisi’s trauma team via email.

康妮说:“奎西在这个系统中有很多触点. “So many of our healthcare workers saw her every day, over 和 over. 她是一个特别温暖的人. Everyone was rooting for her 和 wanted to know if she made it to the wedding. 他们知道这是她的目标. 我得到了很好的回应——每个人都很高兴. 有时, 在医疗保健, 我们看到了困难的事情, so to see a picture of a patient who was struggling now looking so elegant 和 smiling 和 being where she wanted to be [was powerful].”

现在使用轮椅或助行器四处走动, Quisi is expected to regain most of her mobility over the next year. She completed all of her coursework 和 is returning to the University of Denver, 可能是虚拟的, 来为她的论文辩护. 她现在和玛丽贝尔一起住在家里, 在理疗和休息的帮助下, 她一天比一天强壮.

马里 is grateful for the 贝洛伊特 alumni who have cared for her 和 her daughter 和 treated them like family.

“他们让我们所有人的生活变得更好，”她说. “不得不停止工作, 去那里，不认识任何人，也不认识那个地方, 我知道我必须搞清楚这一切. 我想和我女儿在一起. 让他们, 他们的热情、关心和爱, 是我这辈子遇到的最好的事吗.

“有人在你需要的时候出现, 尤其是他们以前不认识你的时候, 有什么特别的吗?. 它会改变你.”

基西、玛丽贝尔、康妮和琼庆祝基西的康复.Connie was stunned by the coincidences of Quisi’s journey to recovery 和 deeply inspired by how the Galloways, 就像她认识的其他贝洛伊特人一样, 跳进去帮忙.

“I’m always impressed by the small number but long history of alumni,” she says. “You can find them in all corners of life in unexpected places. I was so impressed with how everyone rallied around Quisi 和 how powerful our network is. 谢谢你，贝洛伊特，让我们聚在一起.”