作者:Loralyn Cecil
CHS慈善总监

The life of Emma Rose Davis Bridges was tragically cut short on Feb. 8, 2023, when — at 29 years old — she died from a pulmonary embolism. 就在一个月前, 她和她的丈夫, 贾里德, (they met when both were students at UK) brought home their baby girl, 拿俄米.

“I’ve been reflecting on Emma’s life a lot lately and when I think about all she did in those days, 我完全敬畏,艾玛的妈妈说, 玛格丽特Dimmit. 在这10个国家中,931天(她活了), 她高中毕业了, earned a bachelor's degree and a master’s degree, 去欧洲旅行, 圣歌. 维也纳的斯蒂芬大教堂, 多次执行任务, 在教堂营地工作, 获奖, served as an amazing big sister to eight siblings, 成为一名语言治疗师, 帮助了无数的孩子, 徒步, 探索, 做了妻子, 成为母亲.”

“她在那10年里生活得很充实,931 days and had much more living to do, 但不管出于什么原因, 她的时间缩短了. 太短了，”她继续说. “Since she died, I’ve yearned for a way to truly honor my beloved daughter.”

所以，他们有. Emma’s family created a scholarship to honor her love of helping others, as well as her fondness of speech pathology and all things UK.

“I wanted to find a way to honor her mission in life and that was to always help others,玛格丽特说. “艾玛的朋友, 姐妹, 贾里德, and I – along with others at the University – worked together to create the Emma Rose Davis Bridges Memorial Scholarship. I can’t begin to tell you the comfort this has brought to me.”

火狐体育下注爱

In one of Margaret’s favorite photos, Emma is a toddler, wearing a UK cheerleader uniform.

“I can still see Emma standing on the fireplace, which was her stage,” she 说. “She loved UK and she loved to sing My Old Kentucky 首页。.”

When Emma was in high school and about to graduate among the top in her class, Margaret knew Emma was about to go and make a difference 在 world. In 2011, Emma came to Lexington and enrolled 在 火狐体育下注健康科学学院 在 Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) Department.

When Emma was older, the shared love for UK was a way to bond with her siblings. 作为一名大学生, she took her little brother Mason to a football game, 带她的兄弟姐妹参观校园, 并邀请他们参加各种活动.

“She shared her love of UK with people,玛格丽特说. “这是她身份的一部分. 她非常骄傲.”

在CHS的Emma和贾里德

In 2015 Emma enrolled 在 CSD Master’s program in Speech Language Pathology 在 火狐体育下注健康科学学院. Soon, 贾里德 — who she had been dating since her freshman year — was accepted into the 物理治疗项目 在同一所学院.

贾里德 described how Emma was a great influence on everyone — from her youngest students to her church community, 致她的同学和同事, 甚至他自己.

“No matter what Emma did, she gave it 100 percent,” he 说. “As someone studying to be a health care professional, seeing her at work helped me to keep motivated. She excelled at everything because she put 在 work. Her example helped me immensely in PT school.”

安妮·奥尔森, 惩教署系主任, 说, 艾玛是有责任的, 种类。, 亲切的, quiet and focused in her goal to become a speech-language pathologist (SLP). 毕业后, Emma was unanimously elected by faculty to receive the Scarlett Parsley Hooker Award.”

The characteristics required for the award? 有责任心、善良、亲切.

在工作中

毕业后, Emma began her professional career in 2019, with her first job at Scott County Preschool.  Bethany Ingmand和Emma一起工作. “Emma was one of my dear friends,” she 说. “She started as an SLP at Scott County Preschool the same year I did. 甚至在她还是个新SLP的时候, 她知识渊博，以至于, 我们的slp团队, 她是一位经验丰富的专业人士.

“She made us and our SLP/therapy/special education team better just by being herself and showing her love and drive for the field,宝芬妮接着说. “我们都向她学习. She shaped me as an SLP, person, mother, and a friend.”

Bethany 说 Emma could be a driving force, even when the two worked on a project.

“她是创意策划者. I just held the stapler and followed her lead,” she 说. “In our field I feel you have to be a team player, 合作者, 创新者, 提倡, and able to talk to parents on very stressful topics. She did all of these things with ease and poise.”

艾玛的奖学金

贾里德 is working with family and friends to create the scholarship at the 火狐体育下注健康科学学院, which will help students who are 在ir second year 在 College’s Communication Sciences and Disorders Department and pursuing Speech Language Pathology as their concentration.

“We want the next generation of speech therapists to know of Emma,” he 说. “We want them to know who she was and how she was.”

Bethany shares 贾里德’s motivations for creating the scholarship. “We need more good people in our field who are passionate about helping kids,” she 说.

Margaret is working closely with family, friends and the many people who love Emma to create the scholarship. “It’s given me a purpose in honoring Emma and the legacy she leaves behind,” she 说. “I want to help others do the work that Emma did. 我想帮助别人，帮助别人.”   

“Losing someone you love changes your life,” Bethany 说. “I grieved her and still grieve for her. I will always be sad she is not here with me but Emma needs to be celebrated. It is my goal to always celebrate her. 再也不会有像艾玛一样的人了, but I am so happy her legacy will help a future SLP touch young lives the way she did.”

Want to make a gift to The Emma Rose Davis Bridges Memorial Scholarship? 点击这里.