Why I Serve at East Tennessee Children's Hospital

My name is John Fellers, and I am a Volunteer at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. My daughter, Josie, was diagnosed with AML Leukemia on April 15th, 2020.

My story on why I volunteer at ETCH starts with Josie’s story which began on August 26, 2002. Josie was born at Parkwest Hospital in Knoxville with underdeveloped lungs. 30 minutes after she was born, she was rushed to ETCH and admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for 10 days until her lungs caught up with the rest of her tiny body. She did great during her first visit at the hospital, and we couldn’t have been more thankful for all the nurses, doctors, and staff did to get us through that first ordeal.

Fast forward to April 2020 and right at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Josie was trying out for the UT Dance Team and was not herself. She was weak, low on stamina, and suffering from unusual illnesses that were a precursor to what was to come. After a visit with her family doctor and at the insistence of her mother who is a registered nurse, blood work was taken and that evening we got a call from her doctor asking if he could stop by the house. The results of the blood work, given to us in the driveway of our home, were that Josie appeared to have Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and needed to go the Children’s immediately to get further tests.

As you can imagine, we were devastated, and looking back can’t imagine what Josie must have thought as we came up to tell her this horrible news. From the first days at Children’s Hospital until Josie finally checked out, the experience, although scary for all of us, was so much more bearable because of the love, compassion, and caring hearts of all those at ETCH.

One of the hardest parts for a parent having a child in the hospital during COVID were the new rules and regulations which allowed only one parent at a time to be on the floor with their child. That meant that my wife and I had to begin a 12-hour shift rotation, with me on dayshift and my wife on night shift. We got to know our respective shift nurses, doctors, and staff personnel, and would lean on them to help us navigate this new normal over the coming months.

One of those people was the Director of Volunteer Services, Cheryl Allmon. From the first time we met her she showed compassion, respect, understanding, and a willingness to do whatever was needed to help Josie and us get through this diagnosis and make it to the other side. I was so thankful for all the many ways that Cheryl and the hospital staff took care of Josie and made her feel like she was the most important patient they had.

The fact is, they make every patient feel that way and that is why they are so special! Everyone we encountered demonstrated the CORE values that the hospital prides itself in.

So, again why did I decide to volunteer at ETCH? I was so thankful for how everyone treated Josie through the scariest times of her life, that I told Cheryl Allmon I wanted to do something to give back for all they had done for us. Cheryl told me that when I was ready that they had a place for me to volunteer and give back to others as they had given to us. It wasn’t long until I made that phone call and started the process to begin my volunteer career at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.

I started several years ago as the Friday morning movie cart volunteer. I remembered having those movies available for Josie and me to watch together got us both through the many tough days sometimes! I have loved the interaction with the patients as I help them pick movies out or recommend ones that Josie and I watched during our time in those same rooms.

As much as I love being on the floors and helping pick movies out, I have recently began training to be a greeter and wayfinder which I think will be a perfect match for my personality. I remember walking from the parking garage to the hospital many times and having that volunteer standing there to greet me with a smile and a kind, compassionate word which would always make me feel much better, no matter what I was facing with Josie that day.

I also was asked to volunteer for the Family Advisory Council to give my opinions from a "dad's" perspective on ways to make the hospital experience even better than it already was.

Volunteering at ETCH has done more for me than I feel I have ever done for anyone since I have been there. I try everyday I’m there to look at those parents and kids and see my families face in them and do everything I can to calm, reassure, and love on them as Children’s did for us. I’m so thankful for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, doctors, nurses, staff, volunteers, and all they do each and everyday and I’m so glad I get to be a small part of such a wonderful team!

John Fellers