This is a letter written to all of you about my hero. She knows who she is and she knows how much she means to me, but a lot of you do not fully understand why she is my hero.

Sayde and I have always had each other’s backs through thick and thin. When our parents divorced she was the only consistent person in my life on a daily basis. Although we both knew our parents loved us even through this dark time, Sayde was the only person with me day in and day out.

I remember the day I found out my sister was sick like it was yesterday. My mother and my stepfather came down to my room and sat me down with an agonizing look in their eyes. They started by reminding me of the strange signs Sayde had been exhibiting recently. I felt my chest collapse as the news got worse and worse. They reassured me that Sayde would be fine and there was no reason to be concerned because the doctors would take care of her in the best way that they could. At the time I was only 9-10 years old and Sayde was 8. The news they had informed me of was that Sayde had this very rare case called an Arterial Venus Malformation or AVM. I was too young to fully understand but what I did understand was that Sayde was sick and it wasn’t normal.

In the next few years, our family traveled down to the Children’s Hospital in Boston and Sayde received radiation to “shrink” the vein. This event would occur every four years till the vein was completely gone, which could not be ensured.

We all thought that this was the biggest scare in our lives, but we were proven wrong when four years ago on September 6^th my family was hit with an abrupt incident.

As much as I wish I could be there for Sayde when this incident first occurred the only point of view I can share with 100% certainty is my own.

It was the second day of my Sophomore year in high school and I was in Choral class. The school nurse came down and informed me that my mother was here to pick me up. For any of you who know my mom she is on top of things all the time, she always informs me of appointments even a week in advance, so this seemed very strange to me. As we were walking down the hall together my mind starting soaring and suddenly it clicked, something was wrong with Bug (aka Sayde). We came around the corner and rather than seeing my mother, I noticed my Nana standing there. The look on her face was not reassuring, in fact it was screaming fear. As I approached her she told me that Sayde was headed to Dartmouth Hitchcock and that we needed to pick up Avery (my youngest sister) and then head that way.

The ride seemed like it was taking forever when all I wanted was to see her. Little was explained to me at the time, mostly out of shock themselves and also because little was known. When we arrived I rushed in to see her because all I wanted was to hold her hand, to show her I was there.

What I was about to see was not what I had pictured. The little sister I saw every day and watched grow with each passing day, was not the little sister I saw before me.

Sayde spent two weeks in the ICU at Dartmouth Hitchcock, and then another roughly two and a half weeks at Spaulding Rehab in Boston. Here she had to learn how to walk and use her arm/hand to have it work functionally again. She endured this huge burden that none of us will ever be able to fathom. She is the epitome of a hero which is why I wanted to share her story.

The next time life seems tough, think about how great of a life you have. I am not saying that Sayde doesn’t have her blessings as well, but she lives her everyday life scared that this might happen again. So I ask that when things do not feel like they could get any worse, imagine yourself in the shoes of someone like Sayde. I know it has helped me.