Husker student athletes visit patients at local hospital on MLK day
Student athletes from a variety of sports at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln came out to CHI St. Elizabeth’s Hospital to brighten the day of some newborn children and their families.
They decided to volunteer their time on Martin Luther King Jr. day to do some community service.
“We really felt like it was important to give back to the community and it was great to spend time with the families and meet their newborn children,” said Judi Jones, a Junior at UNL who runs Track and Field.
The student athletes even got a chance to hold one of the newborns, Thorin Stevens.
“Oh my gosh… I was so scared, they just seemed to fragile and he’s still so young but it just made me realize how precious life is,” said Jones.
Thorin’s mother Lacey was glad to receive the huskers Monday morning.
“They were just super friendly and kind, excited to see the baby and interested in our story. Spent time talking to my older boys and brought them bracelets. It was something fun to help break up the day,” said Lacey Stevens.
Thorin was born 14 weeks early and weighed just 2.2 pounds at birth.
The Stevens family had been at the hospital for 11 weeks waiting to take their son home.
Another new parent, Caleb Larsen, was happy to see some fellow huskers out and about.
“It was really cool to see them come in, being a husker myself, it was really awesome to see some fellow huskers here taking time off, especially on a holiday. That’s one of the awesome things about the University of Nebraska in general. The culture here is really great, people like helping and getting out into the community and I just think that’s really awesome,” said Larsen.
It was a morning filled with smiles and laughter.
Student athletes from the track and field and volleyball teams were happy they spent their morning brightening the days of others.
“That’s just an honor to be able to represent Nebraska. We take a lot of pride in being able to wear the uniform, wear the gear around. We just want to represent them as well as possible because they have done so much for us,” said Jones.
