Family starts memorial scholarship fund in honor of daughter
SPOKANE, Wash. — Hundreds of people gathered over the weekend to remember the life of West Valley High School student, Sophie Hawley.
17-year-old Sophie Hawley died on December 20th from complications following her third open heart surgery. Sophie was born with aortic stenosis, a congenital heart disease. The disease required her to have open heart surgery at 20-months and at 7-years-old. After her second surgery, Sophie told her parents she wanted to be a pediatric nurse.
“She really wanted to be a nurse. She was taking medical classes in high school, volunteering at the hospital,” said Sophie’s dad, Chad Hawley.
After her death, Chad and Gina Hawley set up a memorial scholarship fund to help other kids pursuing a nursing degree.
In just 5 days, the memorial fund has grown to well over $45,000.
“I guess that is what Sophie’s purpose in life was,” said Chad Hawley.
“Our hope is that instead of one nurse that Sophie would’ve been, helping hundreds of people through her lifetime- that this scholarship can create hundreds of nurses helping thousands of people,” added Hawley.
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