{"id":239571,"date":"2025-12-24T08:42:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=239571"},"modified":"2025-12-24T10:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T15:00:15","slug":"a-colorful-tribute-to-a-beloved-patient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/12\/a-colorful-tribute-to-a-beloved-patient\/","title":{"rendered":"A Colorful Tribute to a Beloved Patient"},"content":{"rendered":"

A thousand origami cranes in three frames now hang from the wall in UConn Health\u2019s Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a> waiting room, a lasting tribute to a beloved patient who died of brain cancer three years ago.<\/p>\n

Her parents remember Abby Harris as a tough, funny, sometimes irreverent girl who made fast friends. She loved ice hockey and had played it since age 4, including four years of varsity at Simsbury High School, from where she graduated in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was absolutely extraordinary,\u201d says her father, George Harris. \u201cAnd I think what her care team came to love about her was that, with Abby, what you see is what you get.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/a>
From left, George Harris, Lourdes Harris (holding photo of their late daughter, Abby Harris), Lucy Hardee, and, from Abby\u2019s care team, UConn Health nurse practitioner Kate Medow, nurse Kelly Demetro, nurse Neveta Martin, and medical assistant Jessica Rogers gather in front of the display of origami cranes Hardee created as a tribute to Abby and donated to UConn Health. (Tina Encarnacion\/ UConn Health photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cShe had that smile that was contagious and she would come in, even though it was so sad sometimes, but she always managed to have that smile,\u201d nurse Neveta Martin recalls. \u201cShe always came in with her nails painted a different color each time. So we\u2019d always say, \u2018First things first, let\u2019s see what color the nails are today.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Less than three months before her 19th<\/sup> birthday, Abby had a seizure that would lead to discovery of a glioblastoma, an aggressive and often deadly brain tumor. That led to an inconceivable conversation with Dr. Kevin Becker<\/a>, UConn Health neuro-oncologist.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Becker was clear with us what the implications of that were, that they could prolong her life, but they could not save it,\u201d Harris says. \u201cAs you might imagine, that was a very emotional visit for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within days of learning of her diagnosis, Abby shared the news on Instagram, telling her followers, \u201cNow is the time to live a beautiful life, and to show love to everyone around you, and to just have no regrets about anything you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband and I took some time off from work to be with her and take care of her,\u201d says Lourdes Harris, Abby\u2019s mother. \u201cWe traveled, we went to Europe for three weeks. She wanted to go to Paris because she understood a little bit of French.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLive a beautiful life\u201d had turned into Abby\u2019s mantra and would become her legacy. Her message and her journey inspired those around her, including Lucy Hardee, a high school classmate, who came up with the idea to fold 1,000 origami cranes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a story my mom used to tell me,\u201d Hardee says. \u201cShe lived in Japan for study abroad when she was younger. It\u2019s the story of a girl who lived through the atomic bomb drop, and so she got cancer. It created this tradition of creating a thousand cranes for good health or good luck. And so I immediately thought of that, what my mom used to tell me, and I decided to make them for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Having it here constantly reminds us of who she was, just her spirit, full of life. — Neveta Martin<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Over the year Abby was in treatment, she formed a bond with her care team, led by Becker and nurse practitioner Kate Medow<\/a>, who had just joined UConn Health, early in Abby\u2019s treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately you know the situation is unique, not only due to her young age, but also given the aggressiveness of her tumor,\u201d Medow says. \u201cIt seemed like sadness was the only reasonable reaction. But somehow each visit with Abby was filled with laughter and just an incredible amount of insight for a 19-year-old. She was wickedly funny, but simultaneously had a maturity about her that never ceased to impress me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In December 2022, a few weeks shy of her 20th<\/sup> birthday, Abby went into hospice care.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn that same visit that she was put into hospice, she had brought Christmas presents for her care team, all picked out very personally,\u201d George Harris says. \u201cAll this was happening at the same time, the hospice diagnosis, her giving the gifts, and the extended care team crowding into the exam room to sing her \u2018Happy Birthday.\u2019<\/p>\n

Abby died the day before she would have turned 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbby\u2019s journey from surgery to her passing was one of the most impactful experiences I have ever been a part of,\u201d Becker says. \u201cThe maturity, humor, and grace in which she faced her treatment course and ultimate outcome was a gift to witness and continues to have a lasting impression. She was a true light in this world and her death further accentuates the brutally cruel nature of glioblastoma.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is one of those people that left a mark on everyone who had the honor to care for her,\u201d Medow says. \u201cThroughout her illness, Abby led the way, and we joyfully followed. And I can personally say that taking care of Abby changed how I approach caring for my patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know what the outcome\u2019s going to be, then what\u2019s left is giving her a quality of life and then loving her, and they just loved her,\u201d George Harris says of those who cared for his daughter.<\/p>\n

\"three<\/a>
Lucy Hardee\u2019s display of 1,000 origami cranes hangs in the waiting room of UConn Health\u2019s Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center in memory of Abby Harris, a patient who died of brain cancer the day before her 20th birthday. (Tina Encarnacion\/ UConn Health photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The display of origami cranes Hardee had made for Abby first went to the family home in Simsbury, where they hung in Abby\u2019s bedroom. When the Harrises moved out of that house, they asked Medow about donating them to UConn Health. Medow worked with the UConn Foundation and art curator Andre Rochester to add them to UConn Health\u2019s art collection, known as \u201cThe Connecticut Collection,\u201d and they were installed in prominent view in the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center waiting room in time for the three-year anniversary of Abby\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen George and Lourdes messaged me that Lucy was hoping to donate her beautiful cranes, I knew that they needed to land here at UConn,\u201d Medow says. \u201cKnowing that I can start each clinic day walking past her cranes, and to have the beautiful opportunity to remember those lessons and Abby\u2019s smile, feels incredibly special to me. And I know I\u2019m not the only one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin says seeing the colorful tribute in her workspace helps keep Abby\u2019s memory alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving it here constantly reminds us of who she was, just her spirit, full of life,\u201d Martin says. \u201cRegardless of the odds that were against her, she always managed to come in with a laugh. That was Abby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hardee says Abby\u2019s passion for life is what inspired her to fold all those cranes.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018Live a beautiful life,\u2019\u201d Hardee says. \u201cAnd I think I just wanted something that could be an image of that, and an image for her to keep in her space while she was fighting cancer to show that, \u2018We\u2019re here for you. Everyone\u2019s here for you, and life is beautiful.\u2019 And I really wanted her to have that message for herself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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