Faces of Resilience - Our Grateful Patients

It happens in an instant. Suddenly everything you knew about yourself, about your life, changes.

There’s no going back to the way it was before. There is only forward. And, at first, forward seems impossible. Then, slowly, you begin to find your way. You reclaim all that you can of what once was, while redefining who you are. And somehow, you become more than you ever thought possible.

Faces of Resilience celebrates the courage and conviction of 14 people who, in their most fragile state, received care at MetroHealth. They are newborns whose world in their first weeks was the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. They are children who received a second chance at life in the John A. Gannon Burn and Trauma Center at MetroHealth. They are adults who turned tragedy into selflessness as volunteers with the Trauma Survivors Network.

They are alive. They are resilient.

The survivors in these photographs all benefited from the time and expertise of the clinicians at MetroHealth. These photographs also are a testament to our caregivers’ dedication and determination to help their patients heal.

All photographs were shot in early 2016, on location throughout Northeast Ohio by Cleveland-based photographer Paul Sobota. For several months, a handful of portraits of each person were installed outside of the Office of Patient Experience at MetroHealth’s main campus. They have since been reinstalled in the NICU and the Burn Care Center and Specialty Services Pavilion waiting areas. Over the next several months, more short stories will be added to the website. Please check back often to learn about all of our exceptional Faces of Resilience.

Each story tells the impact of MetroHealth on the lives of these resilient individuals.

The impact of philanthropy at MetroHealth touches them and countless others in Northeast Ohio.

A gift to the MetroHealth Fund will help continue that care. Please consider a donation that will allow others the chance to become resilient survivors.