Collin County Living Well Magazine May/June 2017 | Page 13

Dempsey and his late mother, Amanda Dempsey.
Dempsey talking with a family at the Patrick Dempsey Center for Hope & Healing.
spend time with working actors and learn by doing instead
of attending college.
He dropped out of high school to try his hand as a ma-
gician and juggler, a craft he says changed his life. He
told the New York Times, “It gave me purpose; it led me
toward performance.”
Making his way onto the stage and the small screen in
the 1990s, Dempsey landed several recurring roles in
sitcoms and films, including Heaven Help Us, Can’t Buy Me
Love, and Loverboy. His career hit a brief stall before he
rocked an Emmy-nominated performance playing a brother
coping with schizophrenia in Once & Again alongside Sela
Ward in 2001. Finally, 2002 ushered in his biggest break
opposite Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama,
before landing his celebrated role as Dr. Shepherd in
2005, cementing his place in history as a superstar.
Since tossing in his on-set scrubs, Dempsey’s taken on new
roles including an appearance in Bridget Jones’s Baby in
2015. But his enduring passion, as it turns out, keeps him
spending more time at a hospital.
family cope. So in her honor, he decided to launch the Pat-
rick Dempsey Center for Hope & Healing, in partnership
with the Central Maine Medical Center. There, patients
and families in Maine touched by cancer enjoy access
to helpful resources, services, and practical help at no
cost. These include therapies that complement clinical
treatments, such as massage therapy and acupuncture to
help alleviate the side effects of cancer and treatment.
Children, parents, and families are offered specialized
services such as expressive and experiential therapies in-
cluding art, play, and adventure, and community through
the Healing Tree Youth & Family Services.
“For a family to get a cancer diagnosis is devastating,
and the information out there can be overwhelming,”
Dempsey told reporters at the Kennebec Journal when
he launched the center in 2008. Dempsey consulted his
sister, Mary, who worked at the hospital, about creating
a place where patients and families could seek support.
“Knowledge is power,” he said.
While Dempsey seemed right at home in the operating room,
his real contribution to patient care was first a gift to his moth-
er, Amanda. She navigated a journey with ovarian cancer for
nearly two decades before passing away in March of 2014. Each year Dempsey joins in the center’s annual fundraiser,
the Dempsey Challenge in Lewiston. (The 2017 Challenge
is scheduled for Oct. 7 through 8.) Participants can walk,
run, or bike, and raise funds for the center. He told Port-
land’s WCSH 6, “ It’s such an amazing and emotional jour-
ney when you ride along with someone and you hear their
story…you spend this brief moment of time riding through
the countryside at a great time of year, and people’s hearts
are open. There’s no agenda…and there’s such a strong
sense of community. It’s beautiful.”
When his mother was diagnosed, Dempsey, like many
families, tried to source the best information to help his “Beautiful.” It continues to define both Dempsey’s look,
and his outlook.
Hope and healing at the Dempsey Center
o
To learn more about the Dempsey Center for Hope & Healing, visit dempseycenter.org.
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