Norma Emery, CCRN, F.A. is no stranger to the ailments that she helps to
alleviate. As a teenager she underwent numerous major surgeries that nearly
took her life. She received close to 100 pints of blood and took several years to
recover. When she was finally well she had a great admiration for the medical
field. She asked a dear friend of hers who was dying of breast cancer how she
could repay the people who had helped her. Her friend replied, “You can’t. You
can only pass it on”.
From those words Norma was inspired to join the Peace Corps and she
subsequently found herself in Afghanistan for 2 ½ years working as a
vaccination instructor and later as a nurse. Since then she has had a wonderful
career in many fields of acute nursing. She is now a surgical assistant for heart
surgeons, orthopedics, and most other surgical fields. After working 60+ hours
per week, she teaches “spinning” classes at a local gym, hikes, tackles frequent
distance rides on her road bike, does the house and year, cook’s gourmet food
and reads. Her two sons are busy developing their careers, and her husband is
a urologist who also has a deep appreciation and respect for the Afghan people.
Since the Taliban were driven out of power two years ago, she was eager to see
what she could do again for the Afghan people. During her three recent trips she
has helped at the KartiChar Orphanage and also at the Aliabad Hospital making
a difference and “passing it on”.
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