A
s the family was waiting to board a plane at LaGuardia
Airport that day, Coree Betron became very ill, vomiting
and developing a fever. She had been sick for weeks, but
was feeling better that morning and received her doctor’s consent
to travel. While standing at the gate, Betron’s mother, Susie, listened to her instincts and canceled the trip. “I knew we couldn’t
get on that plane,” her mom recalls.
On the advice of a close friend, who was also a pediatrician at
New York-Presbyterian/Columbia, the family fled the airport and
Betron was rushed to Chilton Medical Center, their community
hospital. The pediatrician assured her mom that she knew the
Director of Chilton’s Pediatric Emergency Department (ED),
Phillip Devadan, MD, and was certain her daughter would
receive excellent care. In fact, she consulted with him immediately
and prepared the hospital for the case.
About an hour later, the Betrons arrived at Chilton’s Pediatric
ED, where they were greeted by Dr. Devadan. Sensing a critical
situation, he ordered a chest X-ray, which revealed that Betron
had severe pneumonia and pleural effusion, a life-threatening
condition in which fluid accumulates in and around the lungs.
“Pleural effusion is rarely seen in children, but can be dangerous,”
explains Dr. Devadan. “If not diagnosed early, fluid can compress
the lungs and even the heart, making it extremely difficult to
breathe,” he notes. Betron’s mother adds, “Coree’s airways were
almost completely blocked; she had less than half a lung filled
with air. If we had boarded the plane, Coree would have died.”
Upon diagnosis, Dr. Devadan drained the excess fluid from
Betron’s lungs and then admitted her to Chilton’s Pediatric
Inpatient Unit, where she remained for 10 days under the
watchful eye of Dr. Devadan and a team of pediatric-trained
nurses and specialists.
Now age 17 and a junior at Wayne Valley High School,
Betron recalls the frightening ordeal. “I was so sick and so scared,
but Chilton’s doctors and nurses were amazing. They did everything they could to make my experience a little less stressful,” she
recalls. “The nurses cushioned my hand so the IV didn’t hurt,
gave me extra pillows, and played games with me. They offered
toys, stuffed animals and coloring books to lift my spirits and
treated my whole family with compassion,” she says.
Betron’s hospitalization had a profound and lasting impact on
her. “It changed me in ways I never imagined,” she asserts. First
and foremost, the kindness of her caregivers ignited a genuine
charitable spirit. Soon after her recovery, she led a toy drive to
replenish the gifts she had received during her hospital st