Kay Whitehead

Forks, Washington

Kay Whitehead doesn’t believe in letting retirement slow her down. Most days, you can find Kay in her garden, caring for more than 600 dahlia plants. But in late fall 2006, she found herself feeling tired. “I wanted to sleep all afternoon, and I’m usually very active,” she says. Her racing heartbeat woke her up one night in January 2007. Her husband Jim drove her to Forks Community Hospital. The cold weather made helicopter transport impossible, so Kay was transported by ambulance to the airport in Port Angeles, where she was met by the Airlift Northwest flight team and flown to Seattle aboard a Learjet. She had a pacemaker implanted within 24 hours. “I remember both of the nurses during the flight. I was a little worried, and they were very reassuring.“ says Kay. “I think they would be good friends.” After her surgery, Kay began knitting for Stitches for the Heart, making hats and booties for premature babies. She has donated more than 100 items, but with her new pacemaker, she’s back in the garden again. Knitting has to wait until after dark.

From Forks Community Hospital (Forks, WA) to William R. Fairchild International Airport (Port Angeles, WA) to Virginia Mason Medical Center (Seattle, WA)