Kerry Harthcock, MD

Yakima, Washington

As a long-time pediatrician in Yakima, Washington, Dr. Kerry Harthcock has relied on Airlift Northwest to transport many of his young patients. But last February, the doctor became the patient when he developed acute abdominal pain. “When he said it’s time to go to the hospital, I knew it was serious,” recalls his wife Gayle. Emergency room physicians helped relieve his severe pain and arranged to have Kerry, now unconscious, transported by Airlift Northwest to Virginia Mason Medical Center. There an abdominal surgeon determined that Kerry had a ruptured bowel, and he was rushed to emergency surgery. He had follow-up surgery several weeks later, to help prevent a recurrence. “It was pretty scary,” recalls Gayle. “We almost lost him.” Today, Kerry still bears the scars of his ordeal, but he’s back to his active life and pediatrics practice—with a new perspective he gained as a patient. “Now I try to be a better communicator with my own patients.” Kerry also learned not to take his life for granted. “It’s important to reconnect with what really matters,” reflects Kerry.

From Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital (Yakima, WA) to Virginia Mason Medical Center (Seattle, WA)