Remembering Bridget, Working For A Cure

This sort of story breaks your heart. A young mother pregnant with her second child is diagnosed with stage four cancer. The baby is born prematurely and the mother dies six weeks later, seeing that new baby only once.

And it was heartbreaking, recalls her father, Ron Bomberger. But Bridget was so strong facing her death that afterwards two of her friends wanted to honor that strength and raise money for a cure.

Four years later, “An Evening for Bridget” has taken on a life of its own and raised $225,000 so far for Dana Farber institute. This year’s event takes place May 19 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston.

Ron and Sara live in East Greenwich, but Bridget and her husband had lived in worked in Boston. They moved to Portland, Oregon, just a year before Bridget’s diagnosis and death.  

Recalling the events leading up to Bridget’s death, Ron speaks calmly, the passage of time having eased some of the more jagged emotions that accompany loosing a child. As the story unfolds, however, a listener can’t help but feel the full brunt of the tragedy.

Bridget and Steve met at a young adults fellowship at Park Street Church in Boston. They dated, married, bought a condominium, and had a baby daughter, Grace. They moved to Portland after Steve had the offer of a good job there. It made sense, too, because Steve’s family was there and there were lots of cousins for little Grace.

“Life was going to be rosy,” recalled Ron.

In Portland, however, Bridget acquired a chronic cough. Originally, they thought it was allergies coming on in Portland’s damp climate.

After Bridget got pregnant in January 2008, she kept getting blood clots and started having terrific pains. They thought it was her gall bladder. When they went to remove it, however, they found the cancer.

“This was May 7, 2008. At that point she was 20 weeks pregnant,” Ron said. She had non-small-cell carcinoma. The origin was the lung and it had metastasized to the liver.

There were discussions about taking the baby right away to perhaps give Bridget a bit more comfortable time, but Bridget was adamant — she wanted to carry the baby as long as she could.

“She was very close to her faith,” he said. “She and her husband prayed about it. She said, ‘We think it’s God’s plan to try to give life to this baby.’”

Bridget was remarkably peaceful, both Ron and Sara said. “She talked to all of us one-on-one to comfort us. She had already accepted that she was going to die.”

The baby, Chloe, came in June, born just shy of 27 weeks and weighing a mere 1 pound, 2 ounces. Her mother saw her only once — a photograph memorializes the moment: Bridget looking at Chloe for the first and last time while the baby lay in a warmer in the neonatal intensive care unit.

In July, after a particularly good day, she told her dad, “You know Dad, every day that I can have like this is a good day. I’m not going to be a vegetable, I’m not going to be a guinea pig for the latest thing.”

Bridget died on Aug. 12, surrounded by family.

It wasn’t too long after that that two friends of Bridget’s asked Ron and Sara if they could hold some sort of event at their home to raise money for a cure. That was start.

Ron and Sara recognize that Bridget herself may well be looking down at all the fuss and preparation that goes into planning an event such as this and thinking, 'Don't spend all this time thinking about me!"

But they keep doing it because they want to help others with cancer and because it's a way to keep Bridget alive for her daughters. Steve and the girls still live in Portland but of course come out for the event.

To date, over $225,000 has been donated to the Dr. Ann Partridge “Young and Strong Program” of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Partridge founded this program in 2005 to specifically focus on women under 40 years old who develop cancer and the unique challenges women of this age group face.

"It’s all about trying to find a cure and if we can be of any help to others," said Sara. Bridget Slotemaker's determination lives on.

If you are interested in learning more about An Evening for Bridget, contact Sara Bomberger at sarabomberger@evening4bridget.org.