FOURTH GRADE CLASSROOM IN WESTFORD, MA RAISING MONEY FOR SPAULDING REHABILITATION HOSPITAL TO HONOR FORMER SPAULDING PATIENT TURNED FRIEND

(Westford, MA) – Children excitedly whispered as they stood in front of 400 of their peers in the school gymnasium, anxiously waiting to introduce their friend Mr. Mackay. At Abbott Elementary School in Westford, a fourth grade class has taken the understanding and demonstration of the word “empathy” to a new level.

In September of 2014, the class was introduced to one of teacher Mrs. Chris Stanvick’s friends, Ross Mackay, a gentleman who had his leg amputated following an infection in February 2013. After the surgery, Mackay received his rehabilitative care at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, MA. Mackay was invited to the fourth grade classroom by Stanvick to share the story of his injury and care, but they both had no idea what would come of the experience.

Mackay answered questions, discussed some of the challenges that came with a new leg, and shared his progress with the class. What was intended to be just one visit turned into a monthly occurrence for Room 24. “Every single one of us decided that we wanted Mr. Mackay to take off his prosthetic and show it to us and describe how it works. He even let us pass it around so each person could hold it to see what it felt like and how light or heavy it was”, shared one student. “The experience was amazing! We soon decided that our guest was really part of our Room 24 Family and we definitely wanted him to come back so we could find out the progress he was making and if he had reached milestones and decided on new ones” expressed another.

The classroom even stood by his side as Mackay walked down his first flight of stairs since receiving his prosthetic, encouraging him as he strived to reach his next milestone. “Many of us had tears in our eyes and were choked up. We cheered like crazy because he reached another milestone, and we witnessed a historic event!” “One of us said that the stairwell by Room 24 was now sacred, and indeed it is.”

Inspired by Mr. Mackay’s story, the children of Room 24 decided they wanted to help future patients by supporting the hospital that gave Mackay much of his strength back, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The classroom decided to start a business named “the Benevolent Basket Builders” – each student donated various school supplies and compiled into one gift basket. From pencils to markers to notebooks, the basket included over 50 different supplies; a basket any elementary school student (or parent) dreams of owning.

Room 24 presented their business to fellow students on Thursday, May 21 and sold raffle tickets to the school for 3 weeks. The empathetic fourth graders will be sharing their fundraising totals in the school gymnasium on Monday, June 22.

As they ended their presentation, with a loud and proud voice, one student proclaimed “Good luck to everyone! We can’t wait to do business with you and earn money for the Spaulding Hospital!”

About Spaulding Rehabilitation Network

A member of Partners HealthCare, The Spaulding Rehabilitation Network includes Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod, two long term care facilities Spaulding Hospital Cambridge and Spaulding Hospital North Shore in Salem and two skilled nursing facilities, as well as twenty three outpatient sites throughout Eastern Massachusetts. Spaulding strives to continually update and improve its programs to offer patients the latest, high-quality care through its leading, expert providers. Spaulding has been awarded a Model Systems designation in three specialty areas- Brain Injury, Burn Injury Rehabilitation, and Spinal Cord Injury - by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Spaulding is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Spaulding is the only rehabilitation hospital in New England continually ranked since 1995 by U.S. News and World Report in its Best Hospitals survey with a #6 ranking in 2014-2015. For more information, please visit www.spauldingrehab.org.

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