A program to provide Owlets to new parents at Providence Medical Center is being helped in part, by the family of Kasey Hansen.
According to her family, "Kasey was a kind, quiet and thoughtful person who always made time for her loved ones. Anytime her family or friends asked her to do something she responded with a resounding “sure”! Her loved ones described her as having a heart of gold."
Unfortunately, that very heart of gold failed Kasey. She died in May of 2017 of a heart attack caused by a spontaneous coronary artery dissection. This is a tear in the layers of a coronary artery and blocks blood flow to the heart muscle.
Kasey lived with a condition called Turner syndrome. This is a genetic disorder where one of the X chromosomes is misshaped or missing completely. Kasey’s muscles were particularly affected by this disorder. She essentially had to work twice as hard as most people to do any sort of movement.
"But if you ever met Kasey, you never would have guessed that she fought every day to have a typical life. She had a bright and cheery disposition. She never used her disorder as a crutch. She wanted to be known as Kasey. Not the girl with Turner syndrome. This disorder is also known to cause cardiovascular issues. Ultimately, it was this disorder that caused her heart attack," said Diana Davis of Carroll, one of Kasey's aunts.
Kasey was only 31 years old when she passed away. Her family, friends and dog, Lucy, were heartbroken with the loss of their daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, friend, coworker and dog mom.
But they also knew they were blessed to have had Kasey in their lives. That is when they decided to carry out acts of kindness in Kasey’s name. She would not have wanted people to wallow in sadness because of her death but instead to spread kindness to others. Just as Kasey had spread kindness to everyone in her life.
The idea caught fire and a Facebook page was made for people to share their acts of kindness in honor of Kasey’s name. The Facebook Group is called “Kasey’s Kindness Acts”. The acts of kindness ranged from monetary donations to many funds, care packages delivered to senior citizen centers, food items delivered to food drives, sun catchers for families that just had a baby, supplies to an animal shelter, extra movie tickets purchased for people in line behind them, the list goes on and on. These acts of kindness eased our aching hearts knowing that Kasey’s light continued to shine on through these acts of kindness.
Kasey was very close with many of her aunts. One of these special aunts started a fund in Kasey’s name at Providence Medical Center in Wayne, nearby where Kasey grew up.
The fund is called “Kasey’s Owlet Fund”.
An Owlet is a monitoring system for babies that helps track things like heart rate, oxygen level and sleep. Two owlets are given to families of babies born at Providence Medical Center per year. It is very fitting that these devices help put families at ease as Kasey was very good at putting people at ease due to her relaxed demeanor and cheerful disposition. Her honor lives on through these acts of kindness.
“We are honored that Kasey’s family has started this fund at Providence Medical Center. These Owlet Monitors provide many parents with peace of mind and the families we have been able to send one home with are very grateful,” says Providence Foundation Director, Rachel Miller.
“We are hoping to create more awareness for Kasey’s Owlet Fund to help her family keep Kasey’s memory alive through this amazing act of kindness. Anyone can donate to this fund where we gift two families a year with an Owlet. If we can grow this fund, we would be able to gift more Owlet Monitors to more families,” says Miller.
Anyone who who would like to make a donation to the Kasey’s Owlet Fund is asked to contact Rachel Miller, Foundation Director at 402-375-7922 or rmiller@providencemedical.com.
