When Peter Hammond was in end-stage liver failure and in dire need of a transplant, he was among the first patients in the nation to accept a healthy liver infected with hepatitis C and undergo a high-risk liver transplant. He was later cured of the disease.

Jerry Harrop and Lowell Harrop are brothers who serve as volunteers at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah. For many years, they—along with other pianists—have shared their musical talents playing beautiful music on the grand piano in the four-story hospital lobby, bringing peace and joy to hospital patients and guests.

Walt Brooks comes from a line of respected educators and historians in the southern Utah city of St. George. When he was young, Walt got into trouble a time or two, and finally his father took him down to the courthouse and told him to pick out another name because he wasn’t worthy of his grandfather’s. Walt shaped up, is currently serving as a Utah State Representative, and is passing along the importance of personal accountability to his daughter, Meli.

Surgeon Shane Lewis, MD, finds that listening to patients and learning more about who they are makes his work more effective and more satisfying. He and his wife, Dixie, share memories of one surgery patient, an 80-year-old Vietnam vet, who was worried about his wife at home alone. Dr. Lewis and other clinicians personally checked on his wife and made sure she had what she needed, which helped the patient have a better outcome. “If we operate from a space of empathy, I think we give far better care.”

Neonatologist Erick Ridout, MD, has helped care for hundreds of preemies needing critical care. His work with other clinicians and caregivers to reduce “POKES” (reducing needle draws in preemies) has significantly improved care and outcomes, while saving millions of dollars. He shares his published POKE research with clinicians across the country.

Auni, Caitlin and Dallin Naulu's first baby, was diagnosed with a terminal illness—spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Over the next 14 months before Auni passed away, Primary Children’s Hospital clinicians and caregivers, the Naulu’s, and extended family and friends helped Auni live the best life she could. She brought joy and sunshine to all. Since Auni’s passing, Caitlin, a special education teacher, and Dallin have become strong advocates for families and children with SMA.

Over several decades serving as family medicine doctors, Drs. Steven Van Norman and Craig Booth have seen St. George, Utah, grow from a sleepy town with a small hospital to one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the nation with world-class health services. “I do miss the small hospital,” says Dr. Booth, “We’d go in on Tuesdays to do surgery, and there would be a beautiful lemon-cream pie waiting for us.

Hiking in the Utah mountains, Casey Hunter slipped and fell down a steep snowy incline and boulder patch. With his leg hanging and patched together with a make-shift tourniquet, he crawled up the mountain, found the cell phone he had dropped in the fall, and called his wife, Amy. A Life Flight hoist team rescued him from the slope. In spite of multiple surgeries and an amputation, Casey says his life is better as a result of the experience.

Four years and seven brain surgeries after a traumatic ATV accident, Britton Shipp is walking, driving, working, and inspiring others. Sommer remembers the key milestone for her, “I just couldn't wait to hear the words, ‘I love you mom,’ again.”