Full circle moment for former cancer patient turned nurse
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A pediatric grad nurse at a hospital in Royal Oak is now giving her patients the love and care she once received as a former cancer patient herself.
For 24-year-old Molly Pratt, being able to work at the same hospital that changed her life is humbling and she only hopes she can be as much an inspiration as the staff here was to her.
"Without that cancer diagnosis, I wouldn't have found my true calling in life," said Pratt.
It was October 2014, homecoming was right around the corner and it was the same year Pratt was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.
"I was focused on which dress, my ACT score, so getting the cancer diagnosis when you're 16 is not the normal thinking process," Pratt stated.
After several rounds of treatment, even relapsing twice, Pratt is cancer free.
Through it all, she always stayed positive leaning on the nursing staff at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, the new name for Beaumont Hospital.
"I never would have thought looking back five years ago that I would have been where I am today," said Pratt.
Laurie Johnson, one of Pratt's nurses, inspired her so much that Pratt herself decided to pursue the same field.
"She's born to be a nurse. She's going to be a huge asset to our unit and I'm very, very excited to be able to work with her," said Johnson; Nurse on the pediatric floor at Beaumont.
You read that right. After graduating from Saginaw Valley State University in December 2022, Pratt is now walking the halls with those who cared for her, like Johnson, but this time she's caring and connecting with her own patients.
"I want them to be able to find the hope and encouragement and inspiration that the nurses gave to me," said Pratt. "I want to be that positivity that walks in the room all the time. I want them to smile when they see me."
"She can honestly say that she's been there, she's done it," Johnson stated.